The New Generation
by stinkysox
Summary: When Natasha and Clint are supposedly KIA, how will their daughter handle it? And what does Tony and Pepper's son have anything to do with it?
1. Chapter One

The New Generation

"Mom!" I sighed as she didn't turn around. "Mom, listen!" We turned into a different hallway and I jogged up to catch her.

"I am listening. But I don't like what I'm hearing." I scowled as we walked into the elevator.

_"Hello, what department of SHIELD would you like to go to?" _The familiar voice of JARVIS, which Tony had installed at SHIELD, came onto the air as my mother answered.

"The meeting room, please." The doors dinged closed and she turned to face me. "Nadya, listen. I know you want to go, but we can't let you."

"Why the hell not?!" I clenched my fist and my mother leaned against the elevator wall.

"Ask your father."

I rolled my eyes and the doors opened to reveal the almost empty meeting room.

"Dad!" I ran up to my father, avoiding getting hit by the bag of arrows and bow hanging on his back.

"Hey, sweetheart." He kissed the top of my forehead and I squirmed over the PDA.

"Dad, stop. _Mom -_" I pointed behind me to my mother, who rolled her eyes. "Won't let me go on this mission!"

Dad looked behind me at my Mom, and they seemed to be having some kind of non-verbal communication going on.

As the silent conversation continued, the rest of the team came in.

"Natasha. Clint. Nadya." Steve acknowledged my Mom, Dad, and I while sitting down with the rest of the team.

We all nodded a hello and then went back to the argument.

"I agree with her. No mission." I gaped as he was handed a packet of papers holding the mission's details.

"Dad! You're supposed to be the cool one!" Tony, Steve, Bruce and Thor all smirked at my comment but I brushed it off.

"I am the cool one." That received a few eye rolls from the others.

"Then why won't you let me go?" I asked, snatching the papers from my father and holding them behind my back.

"Nadya. Give those back."

"Not until you tell me why I can't go!" I demanded as he stepped closer to me. I stepped back.

He hesitated for a moment. "You're too young."

I slammed the papers down on the table.

"_That _is motherfucking bullshit." I clenched my jaw and my mother stepped beside my dad, handing him her papers.

"Language." Both my parents said, while I got a surprised look from Steve, who still wasn't used to having people use this kind of language.

"But what the hell! I'm turning eighteen in two weeks! That's how old you were when you joined SHIELD!" I yelled, and behind my I heard Tony tell Bruce to 'pass the popcorn'. I rolled my eyes.

"Nadya. You're not going and that's final." My mom grabbed my arm and I shook it off.

"Ah, what's this? Little Nadya can't go on a little mission?" I whipped my head around to see the biggest idiot that ever lived.

Otherwise known as Landon. He's pretty much that annoying asshole that everyone knows.

If you think Tony Stark is a jerk, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"Shut up." I hissed at Landon, and then averted my attention back to my parents. "I've been training since I was five and you still won't let me do _anything!_" I yelled, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"That's not true. We let you come on a mission that one time." My mother noted, giving a triumphant grin.

"What the hell? No you did not!" I waved my hands in the air, trying to show how frustrated I was. "We were out getting breakfast, and some guy robbed a bank and all you let me do was sit there and hold the doggy bag! Then right after, you took it from me because you thought I messed something up!"

That earned a few chuckles from the team.

"I'm sorry Nadya. But you can't go. That's final." My mother stood, along with the rest of the team.

"Why does Landon get to go and I don't?!" I asked, pointing at the wide eyed jackass in the corner of the room.

"Because his parents let him. And I don't know if you noticed, but _we're_ your parents. And we're saying no." My father argued, and started walking towards the door. "We'll talk about this later Nadya. We need to go."

I couldn't take it anymore. I was going to blow.

"I hate you! I wish you were dead!" I screamed after them. I could see my parents shaking their head and could picture them rolling their eyes.

I let out an exasperated sigh.

I don't even know where to begin.

When I was younger, I didn't grow up with "loving grandparents" or a "safe, cozy environment". I grew up in SHIELD. The government's top secret program for unnatural things.

Instead of having a normal family, I had possibly the weirdest one you could think of.

I grew up with Natasha Romanoff, a highly trained assassin, as a mother, who taught me martial arts, shooting, and gymnastics since I was three.

I grew up with Clint Barton, an amazing archer, who threatened to shoot a guy's head off with an arrow when a guy stood me up for a date.

I grew up with Tony Stark, the billionaire playboy (also known as Iron Man) who somehow found a soft spot for me, and has spoiled me rotten since the time I was born.

I grew up with Pepper Potts-Stark, a super organized personal assistant, who helped me with girly things, like shopping, and girl troubles, a field where my mother lacked in.

I grew up with Thor, a Norse god, who although being tough, was a softy at heart and brought me back relics from different planets and let me braid his hair at tea parties when I was younger.

I grew up with Steve Rogers, a super soldier, who came and danced with me whenever either of us felt lonely.

I even grew up with Bruce Banner, who turned into the amazing Hulk when he got angry, who just laughed and continued with me when I was five and he found me coloring on his equations.

But as abnormal as it is, I wouldn't have it any other way. I loved this weird family. And the reason was probably because I knew that I would someday be a part of it too.

I've always dreamed of fighting crime along with the Avengers. Helping them out, but apparently, my mother and father didn't want it to be like that.

I scowled and stalked down the hallways to my room, where I slammed the door behind me. I quickly changed into a loose t shirt and athletic shorts, grabbed my iPod, and stomped down to the gym. Right now all I needed was a good workout.

When I arrived it was empty, to my delight, and I started out the workout with a three mile run.

Running felt amazing. It felt like I was just able to get away from my troubles. Run away from them. Run away from my parents, school, everything.

After wards, I taped up my hands, like I had seen Steve do a million times before, and started punching the bad that hung down from the ceiling.

I could see why Steve liked to do this. I punched along with the rhythm of my music, and hit the bag repeatedly.

God. Why did my parents not let me do anything? I've been shooting a bow and arrow since before I could walk. I've been doing martial arts since I was five, and I've been able to beat every one I've gone up against since I was seven. Hell, I'd even taken up shooting, and I haven't missed the bulls eye of a target for two years straight.

I was almost eighteen, and they were still treating me like a baby.

I mean, Landon was only four days older than me, and he got to go on all of these missions? All he had was a suit like Tony. And he couldn't even use it properly! I haven't gone a month without hearing a crash and finding out that Landon had rammed into a wall while testing out his suit.

I started punching harder and harder until with one last hit the bag flew off the hook and onto the ground, like I had seen Steve do a million times before.

I laughed when I thought I was comparing myself to Steve. I was five foot six inches, so average height, I was of petite frame, and had soft red curls like my mother.

Yup. I'm like a female look alike of Captain America.

I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm and checked the time on my iPod. Four twenty two pm. Had I really been working out for two hours?

I sighed and made my way back to my room. My mom and dad would be home soon and I might as well freshen up before the big lecture they would give me.

After peeling off the sweaty clothes I had on, I stepped into the shower, letting the hot water relax my muscles. After a long shower, I pulled a fresh set of clothes on, and settled down onto my bed.

I snatched my school work off the side table next to me and went to the next page of my math textbook, scribbling down answers as I went.

Surprisingly enough, I actually _liked _school. Part of it being that Bruce was my teacher, and I got to spend three hours a day with a genius doctor, the other part being that I knew SHIELD would give me a job in the lab (if my parents didn't let me become an agent), if I went to college and got a good degree. Of course I would go to a close university, so that I could help out around SHIELD if needed.

The one part I didn't like about school though, was that even though I got to spend with a genius doctor, I also had to spend time with Landon, who also took lessons from Bruce. Luckily, I only had the rest of this year (senior year) to spend cooped up in a classroom with the idiot.

As I was just finishing up, a soft knock on my door interrupted me.

"Come in." I said sighing, expecting it to be my parents.

I was surprised to see it was Tony, with a few cuts and bruises, who had obviously just taken the suit off from the mission.

"Hey, Nadya." He said, stepping in the doorway and sitting on the edge of my bed.

"What's up?" I asked, setting my things down beside me and sitting criss cross.

Tony fidgeted and continued. "We need to talk to you." He said in a soft voice. Woah. This was nothing like Tony. Usually he came in with a smile on his face and an inappropriate joke on his lips.

"Um, okay. About what?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He twiddled his thumbs. "About your parents." I let out a frustrated sigh.

"No way. They cannot have someone else come in and try to lecture me. If they want to talk to me, they can come in here and talk to me." I picked up my stuff and continued doing my homework.

"No, Nadya. I'm not here to lecture you for your parents. Something..." The pause in his sentence made look up from my lap and raise an eyebrow again. "Something happened Nadya. Something bad."

I gulped and tears immediately sprung to my eyes. I blinked them away and stood up.

"What happened?" I asked in a timid whisper.

"Let's go to the living room." Tony stood up and I bolted out my room and up the stairs to the living area.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw all the team, even Landon, sitting with sad looks on their faces.

I gaped at what could have happened and then I realized that my parents weren't here. I looked around again and still didn't find them.

I sat down next to Pepper on the couch and looked around at everyone staring at me. When Tony walked in and sat down on the other side of me, I found my voice.

"Where, where are my parents?" I asked softly, almost afraid of the answer. I caught Pepper's gaze and she gave me sorrowful look and gave a comforting pat on my shoulder. No one answered.

"Tony? Where are they?" I asked again, a little louder, turning my head towards them.

He swallowed and raked a hand through his dark hair.

"Nadya..." He started as a tear fell out the corner of my eye.

"Where?! Where the hell are they?!" I screeched, finding myself very angry all of a sudden. I stood and glared at Tony. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Bruce standing behind me.

"Nadya." Tony started again and this time found the courage to finish. "They were killed in action."

.xxX

AN: Well hey! It's nice to meetcha! This is my new story and I really hope you like it so far, don't worry I'll update soon. I'm thinking it'll be pretty long, and I have it all planned out so it hopefully won't take me long to release/write chapters. Anyways, I hope you like it. Make sure to tell me if there are any mistakes or grammatical errors!

Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review! They're greatly appreciated and it makes my day to see them!


	2. Chapter Two

The Next Generation

Chapter Two

"What?" I asked, chest heaving.

"They were killed in action, Nadya." Tony repeated, as I started breathing heavily.

No. This can't be it. He's lying.

I couldn't move to the couch, so instead I just crumpled onto the floor of the living room. I sobbed as I felt an arm pull me into his chest, and I soon realized it was Bruce. I continued to bawl, not giving a shit if Landon was staring at me.

Suddenly I stood up and shoved Bruce off of me. He's lying to me. The man I considered to be a second father to me was lying.

"You're lying." I yelled, wiping the continuous tears off my face and thrusting a finger at Tony.

"Nadya, sweetheart, I'm not." He stood, putting his hands out in front of him, trying to keep me calm.

"No. You're lying. You're lying to me. I bet that any second now that my parents are going to walk through that door and come and lecture me on why I was acting like a little shit towards them." I flung my pointer finger in the other direction towards the door. Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes.

Finally I walked over the doorway, even though I knew it wasn't true, I just wanted to see them. Immediately after seeing it was empty, I crumpled up on the floor of the doorway again.

That's when I really started crying. I rocked back and forth and tasted the salty tears that found their way down my cheeks and into my mouth. I didn't even try to fight it when Tony walked over and pulled me onto his lap and hugged me.

I bawled into his shoulder. My parents. They – they were gone. They weren't here anymore. They would never see me again. _I _would never see them again. They would never see me graduate. They would never be at my wedding. They would never meet their grandchildren.

Eventually Tony stood me up and led me over to the couch where I collapsed onto Pepper, who stroked my hair and tried to comfort me the best she could. I kept bawling until I heard a small mumble coming from across the room.

I whipped my head around to see Landon, finishing a small mumble.

"What was that, Stark?" I asked, sad tears soon turning into angry ones.

"Nothing." He shrugged, turning his head. I bolted up from my seat.

"No, obviously it was something. So I'll ask you again. What the hell did you say?" I screeched, stepping closer to Landon.

He glared. "I said, that you should stop being a baby and get over it." He raised his eyebrows up and down once for emphasis and stepped closer.

"Landon Phillip Stark!" Pepper and Tony yelled at the same time, obviously appalled at the behavior of their son.

Oh that was it. In a split second I was on top of Landon, punching his stomach repeatedly.

How dare he? How dare someone

I was just about to move to his face when Thor pulled me off of him. I tried to pounce back but his strong arms kept me there.

"Never say that again! Have you had your parents die?! I don't think so! So just shut the fuck up!" I screamed, struggling against the hold on me. Landon glared and stood beside his parents. Tony shot a look at his son, which his son returned with a sneer.

Then I grew limp and all my muscles relaxed as I started to cry again. Thor picked me up like a five year old and I bawled against his shoulder as he took me to my room.

When he plopped me on my bed and started to leave, I reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Thor. Please get Pepper for me. Please?" I asked, not bothering to wipe away the tears spilling from my eyes.

He walked up to me and gave me a bear hug. "Of course." He closed the door behind me and I fell into my pillow.

There weren't words to describe this. There wasn't anything to describe this. How could I live without my parents? This wasn't supposed to come for many years. I was supposed to have them present in everything.

"Honey?" I lifted my head to see Pepper walk in through the door. "Oh Nadya." She came up to me and sat next to me while pulling my head onto her lap.

I clung to her like a leech as she whispered words of comfort into my ear.

"I-I-I just c-can't believe i-it." I stuttered, coughing as I took a sudden intake of air.

"I know. I can't believe it either." I looked up to see a teary eyed Pepper. I then realized that Pepper had just lost her best friend, my mother.

I don't know how long she stayed there, but when she finally did leave I just sat on my bed for hours. I couldn't move. I couldn't think.

I could barely breathe.

.xxX

How do you describe losing the most important thing to you?

Do you say your heart broke?

Your mind?

I think it's better described as losing your soul.

During the past three days, I have gotten up once a day. To take a shower and to brush my teeth. Otherwise, I'm sitting on my bed with a pillow clutched to my chest staring at the wall.

You know how some people say crying helps you feel better? I can't even cry. I lost all my tears within the first day and have been dry eyed ever since. How am I supposed to feel better when the only thing I could do is deprived from me?

People have tried to comfort me.

Bruce came in with a notepad and a few pens and colored pencils. He said it would help to draw, to get mind off things. After he left I shoved it into the shredder next to my desk.

Steve came in with my iPod and plugged it in, choosing the song we always danced to when we were lonely. After he saw that I wouldn't get up, he started dancing to the chicken dance, which usually I would be on the floor laughing with tears, left me with a solemn look on my face. He left the room sad and defeated.

I hadn't slept since the night before my parents died, and every time I tried, or every time Pepper came in and told me to sleep, I was just left with an empty feeling in my gut.

So finally when it was approaching my third night without my parents being here, I wasn't surprised when someone tried to come in and talk to me.

"Nadya?" I slowly turned my head towards the door to see Tony standing there. The bed dipped when he sat next to me and I clutched the pillow tighter to my chest. "Nadya. Look at me." There was such an intensity in his voice, I turned to face him.

I could see his eyes, which were usually filled with joy and happiness, break when they saw my face.

"Oh God, Nadya." I stared at the floor, almost embarrassed at the wreck I had become. "When was the last time you slept? Or ate?" I gulped and spoke the first words I had in days.

"Since... since before my parents left." I spoke quietly, hearing a sigh from Tony.

"Nadya that's not healthy." He stood, reaching a hand out to me. "Come on. Come have dinner with Pepper and Landon and I." I just stared at his hand. Tony laughed and bent down to my level. "Come on. I cross my arc reactor and hope to, well not really hope to, die that we didn't put sleeping pills or anything in it." I continued to stare at his hand. He sighed again.

"Please, Nads? We're all worried sick about you." I finally looked up.

I can't have people worry about me. I can't have other people go through the sadness I am.

I hesitantly stood and let Tony lead me out of the room.

"'Atta girl." He kissed the side of my face and we stepped into the elevator.

My stomach lurched when I remembered that the last time I was in here was with my mom. Tony obviously noticed my disdain.

"You okay?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow. I nodded and he visibly relaxed.

.xxX

When we finally arrived at Tony and Pepper's apartment (which they lived in for half the year, the other half at Stark Tower), I almost started drooling at the smell of the food. My stomach growled, seconding the hunger.

"Nadya! I'm so glad you came!" Pepper ran up and hugged me, and then led me to the table.

I noticed Landon, with a small cut on the side of his face. I almost smirked when I remembered what I had done earlier.

We all sat down at the table, Pepper and I on one side, and Tony and Landon on the other. Pepper handed me a plate and piled heap after heap of food onto it.

My eyes widened and Pepper leaned in and chuckled. "I know you haven't eaten for a while. So just enjoy yourself." I gave a weak smile and dug in.

Although Pepper and Tony tried to include me in the conversation, I wasn't really angry when they kept it in between themselves.

"Tony, you need to sign those papers I put on your desk. And stop playing with your toys at the dining table!" She ordered slapping one of his hands.

Tony rolled his eyes. "They're not toys. I'm working on figuring out a way to compact the suit into a bracelet so I don't have to carry around a briefcase all day." He picked up his fork and set down the gadgets.

"Holy crap, Dad. Make one for me!" Landon smiled and picked up the gadget.

"Cool, huh?" Tony asked, grinning along with his son. Pepper snatched the bracelet like object from her son's hands and set it on her side of the table.

"No. Toys. At. Dinner." She commanded, and I cracked a grin when I saw Tony and Landon's faces. They looked so much alike it was uncanny.

Pepper noticed my change of emotion and gave a half smile. Then she turned to me.

"Nadya, what do you say about coming around for dinner every night? It's nice to have another female around and it's nice to see you out of your room." She offered, brushing her bangs away from her face.

I thought for a moment and then smiled. For a few moments when I was here, it almost felt like I was at my own dinner table with my own parents. "I'd love to."

Pepper grinned and went back to her food.

At the end of the night, I was finally able to sleep for just a few hours.

I knew that if my parents couldn't be here, that at least I could make a surrogate family.

.xxX

After a few days though, the happiness wore off. Every thing was going fine at dinner until one night.

Landon had been acting different the whole night. From scowling whenever Pepper or Tony talked to me, to rolling his eyes when his parents asked him how he was doing.

"Shitty. I am doing shitty. And you?" He asked, as his mother and father gaped.

"Landon! What has gotten into you?" Pepper questioned, setting down her utensils and staring at her son.

"Nothing." He growled and Tony stood up.

"Come on. Your mother and I need to talk to you." He grabbed Landon by the arm and dragged him off as Pepper followed. I just sat there, watching as they walked into the other room.

They closed the door, or so they thought, and I could see and hear them through the crack in the door.

"Landon Phillip Stark. What the hell is up?" Tony asked, trying to gain eye contact from his son.

"Nothing." He snarled again, shuffling his feet. Jesus Christ. Did he always act like such a three year old?

"No. It's obviously something so spit it out." Pepper said.

"Fine." Landon sighed angrily and clenched his fists. "Why the hell does she have to be here?"

She? Whose She?

I almost face palmed when I realized he meant me.

"Who? Nadya?" Tony asked, giving a surprised look.

"No shit, Dad." Landon rolled his eyes and I set down my things to pay more attention. "She's always here and I don't want her to be. I mean, can't she just go find somewhere else to leech onto? She's always just moping around like a baby all the time and I can't deal with someone like her."

My heart dropped. I thought that just maybe I had found some place that made me a fraction of a bit happy, and then I find out that someone doesn't even want me here?

"What is wrong with you? Nadya is going through a tough time!" Pepper raised her voice and then quieted it again.

"I don't care. She'll never be a part of this family or another family again, so why even have her here?" Landon retorted.

That was enough for me. I stood up abruptly and stalked off to the door, tears already in my eyes.

"Oh shit. Nadya, honey, wait!" Pepper called out after me.

I didn't turn back. I just wiped my eyes with my arms and ran out their apartment and down a few flights to my room.

I knew that this was too good to be true.

.xxX

**AN: So I'm writing the ending pretty quickly, mostly because I would like to try to release a chapter a day, but I was kind of rushed tonight so I didn't have any time to proof read it. So tell me if there are any mistakes. **

**Wow, you guys are awesome! Four reviews for the first chapter is pretty sweet!**

**I'm not going to be one of those author saying that if you review it will make me write faster. I write because I enjoy writing. Feedback is just an added bonus. **

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**Review it! They're always appreciated! **


	3. Chapter Three

**DID YOU WRITE A REVIEW? **

** RESPONSES ARE POSTED BELOW!**

** Sarcastic Musician: Hey! Thanks for being the first reviewer! Haha, you never know with the story. I guess you'll just have to find out! (The Clint and Natasha aspect that is.) Anyways, I totally get the angst writer part of it, I've definitely had that happen before, haha! **

** Meg123: Okay, before we start the rest, you have literally made up the best line ever. Pretty please with a shirtless guy on top? BEST LINE EVER. Thanks so much for reviewing! There will be more Landon in the next few chapters!**

** Maggie: Thanks for reviewing! I don't know, I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out!**

** Guest: Thanks for reviewing! Stupid Nadya and her choice of words, huh?**

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** Mellbell12123: Oh my God I literally laughed out loud when I read that review. A bitchy teenage girl? Best description ever. Thanks for reviewing!**

** .xxX**

The Next Generation

Chapter Three

"Oh fuck. Nadya! Nadya wait!" I whipped my head around to see a familiar black headed idiot behind me through my tears.

I sniffled and continued to walk faster down the hallways. Only three more doors down and I would be able to shut myself in isolation mode.

"I turned around abruptly when a hand was caught on my wrist.

"What do you want Landon?!" I yelled through tears.

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his brown eyes, which he inherited from his mother. Besides the eyes, Landon looked like a much younger, (might I add taller) cleaner shaven Tony Stark.

I could understand the genetics. Everyone said I looked like a younger version of my mother, with my father's eyes.

I ripped my hand out of his grip.

"Nadya, I'm sorry." Landon apologized, while shuffling around awkwardly.

I sneered. "For what?" I asked. "For what? For saying that I was a mopy little baby? Or for saying that I would never be a part of a family again?" My voice broke at the end.

"For everything. I was just... just... forget it. I'm just really sorry." He turned to walk back when I laughed dryly.

"No. I want to hear this. I want to hear why you're being such an ass towards me." I scoffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Landon turned around and rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ, it was nothing. Never mind."

I stomped after him and glared as I turned around. "No. You tell me right now. You tell me why I should be the victim of _your _emotions."

Landon suddenly burst. "Because my parents like you more than they like me, okay?!"

I stared for a minute until I barely whispered, "What?"

He sighed angrily and clenched and unclenched his fists. "They like you more than they like me." Landon repeated, sighing again.

"Are you fucking serious?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Yes! They obviously like you more. Even before your parents... erm, died." He hesitated bringing up my parents. I gulped. "They've always spoiled you more. Spent more time with you. They obviously don't like me as much as you." He finished quietly, and suddenly found his feet very interesting.

I scoffed again. "Are you kidding me right now, Stark?!" He nodded shyly. I ran a hand through my hair angrily. "You are so wrong. So wrong. Do you understand how much your parents love you?

"When you were ten and you got your first suit, after you successfully flew two feet off the ground, you should have seen your dad's face. He was so proud, so proud that you had just done something like him. His face was like getting a million puppies on Christmas.

"Or when you were thirteen and instead of writing about your father, Iron Man, you wrote about your mother for the most inspirational person in your life. Your mother was so surprised that instead of picking a superhero, you picked her. The next day I saw that she carried that little report around with her in her bag _everywhere_. After you left, she even cried because she was so happy.

"I could go on a lot longer, but right now, I don't want to talk to talk to you anymore. Landon, your parents love you more than anything. And you know what? You're lucky to even have parents." After my lecture I left a wide eyed Landon behind me as I walked into my room.

I sat down onto my bed and tried to cry, to try to get rid of a fraction of this sadness, but I couldn't. I just didn't have control of my life anymore.

I stood up and reached into my desk drawer to find my eye drops. Even though I had just cried before, my eyes were dried and it was painful. I dug through to try to find them, and after rummaging past a random bracelet, a few batteries, and a pack of tissues, I found something that made my heart stop.

It was a little pink journal with flowers and butterflies on it. Out of interest, I grabbed it and turned to the first page. Written in familiar handwriting was a message.

_My darling Nadya,_

_ I know that it's probably a little too soon to be giving you this, but I don't want to forget before it's too late. _

_ I know that growing up with two assassins as parents may be hard. And I know that growing up with the Avengers will be hard too. But darling, I know that you will survive. _

_ In fact, I'm sure of it. Because I know that you have fighter's blood in you. _

_ I also know that having the Black Widow as your mother may not be the easiest thing in the world. So that's why I want to give you this journal. So that you can write down anything in it when ever you feel like it would be hard to talk to me about something. _

_ Darling, I love you so much. You are my pride and joy. _

_ Mom_

After that was the messier handwriting of someone else familiar.

_Kiddo, _

_ I love you more than words can describe. _

_ Dad_

Written on the bottom of the page was a date. It read August twenty eighth, 1996. (AN: I'm writing this story saying that it's about a year after the battle of New York. So it's 2013 in the story.)

I nearly dropped the journal. That was the day of my first birthday. Have I really not noticed this journal until now?

I reached into my desk drawer again until I found a writing utensil.

I think now would be a good time to start using this.

.xxX

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_ I miss you guys so much. I still can't believe you're not here anymore. _

_ I wish you were here so I could talk to you. Hug you. I wouldn't even care if Dad kissed me on the forehead in front of everyone. _

_ I just want you here._

_ It's been so hard without you. I can barely eat or sleep, and I know that you wouldn't like that._

_ I miss our rare family time. I miss having dinner with you two, and you two fighting over what weapon was the best; bow and arrow or gun. _

_ Sure we weren't normal, but we were still a family. And I loved it._

_ Part of me feels like you two are going to walk into that door. _

_ And then I have to face reality and tell myself that that won't happen._

_ I miss you guys so much. I love you._

_ Nadya_

After I finished signing my name, I noticed that my cheeks were wet with tears.

It was almost a sign that my parents wanted me to feel better.

.xxX

In the morning I awoke to a sharp rapping on my door.

I dragged myself away from my pillow and glanced at the clock. Eleven thirty-six am.

Had I really slept for that long? I guess I really needed it.

The knocking continued and I yanked open the door to reveal Landon, with his hands behind his back.

"What the hell do you want?" I snarled, shooting him a glare as he fidgeted.

"I-I wanted to come and apologize." He finally said after a pause.

I crossed my arms. "For what?" I asked, even though I knew damn well what it was for.

Landon sighed. "For being an ass. I was wrong to treat you like that and I'm sorry. And... and I wanted to make up for it."

I raised an eyebrow. "With what? I don't want anything anymore." I opened the door a little wider.

Landon shoved something into my arms. "Here." I opened the bag to reveal a pillow and a purple tee shirt.

"Wow thanks, Landon. Present of the century." I rolled my eyes and was about to close the door when he shoved his foot in the doorway.

"No stop." He interrupted and I stopped closing the door.

"What?"

"Those, those are your parents. The pillow case is your mom's and the tee shirt is your dad's." Landon finished, almost looking proud at himself for bringing me these.

I however, was not proud. I was angry.

"Where did you get these?" I asked, starting to breathe heavier.

Landon gave a surprised look. "What do you mean, where did I get them? Your parents room of course."

My mouth gaped and I shoved the bag onto the ground of my room. "You went into my parent's room?!" I yelled, gripping the doorway with anger until my knuckles turned white.

"Well yeah, I mean, how else am I supposed to get those?" He asked, giving me another look like I was an idiot.

I was astounded. "You went into my parent's room? My dead parent's room?! I haven't even been in there! How dare you go in there and dig around!" I screamed, and I could feel angry tears well up into my eyes.

At least I know my tear ducts are working.

"I'm sorry if you're upset, all I did was grab a pillow and a tee shirt from the dresser and -" Landon started, but I wouldn't let him finish.

"Oh no. I'm not upset. I am more than upset. I haven't even been in there and you have? That's my parent's things! How dare you!" I yelled, and Landon tried to hold his hands in front of him to calm me down.

"Listen, Nadya, I'm sorry I just -" I cut him off again.

"No. Just go." I slammed the door in his face and slid down the door onto the floor, shaking with sobs.

I know it was a stupid thing to yell at him for. I know he was just trying to help. But that was my parent's stuff. Some of the only connections I had left with them.

With a shaking hand I reached into the bag and removed the purple tee shirt that was my fathers. I shook harder when I saw that on the front of the tee shirt was the one I had made for him when I was seven, that said 'My dad is Hawkeye!' on it with the absolute worst drawing of my father ever.

I leaned off of the door and quickly removed my shirt and replaced it with my father's. I drew in a deep breath and inhaled the scent of him. It smelled like pine, the polish that he used on his arrows, and the smell of the laundry detergent he used.

I then removed the pillow from the bag and drew another shaky breath when I held it up to my face. It was bright pink, and probably the girliest thing my mother owned. I had gotten it for her when I was seven and was going through a phase. I just didn't know she actually kept it.

I did the same thing that I did before and I inhaled a deep breath. This time, a different scent entered my nose. It smelled like gun powder, mixed with the apple shampoo that my mother always used, mixed with a small scent of vodka, my mother's favorite drink.

I laid down onto the floor and curled up against the pillow and cried.

.xxX

_I was running down an unfamiliar hallway when I spotted a surprising sight ahead of me. _

_ It was a redheaded female in a black suit and a sandy blond with a bag of arrows hung on his back. _

_ I called out to them. "Mom! Dad!" The figures turned and smiled when they saw me._

_ "Nadya, darling, how are you?" My mother asked, smiling and staying the same distance away from me. I urged my feet to go forwards as I spoke._

_ "Mom? Dad? You're supposed to be dead! What happened?" I asked, stopping in front of them. _

_ My mother gave a questioning look. "What are you talking about, Nadya? I'm very much -" She stopped mid sentence and clutched her stomach. _

_ "Mom? Mom! What's wrong?" I asked panicked and then I looked down to see a cut in my mother's stomach. She collapsed onto the floor._

_ I gasped and turned towards my father. Why wasn't he helping? What was he doing?_

_ "Dad! Dad! Help her!" I yelped, pleading with my father._

_ "It's too late, Nadya. It's -" My father then collapsed on the floor. I gasped again and knelt by him as he took shaky breaths. _

_ "Dad? Dad! What's wrong?" My father lifted his hands and I could see a cut like the one on my mother's stomach. _

_ He pointed towards my hands. "It looks like you got your wish." And with that he passed out. _

_ I stared at my hands. In them was a small dagger, soaked in red blood._

_ My parents blood._

I woke up screaming in a cold sweat when I realized it was just a dream. I clutched my knees against my chest and tried to think about what happened.

_"It looks like you got your wish."_

My father's words haunted me as I shivered.

Wish? What wish?

Suddenly, as if I had just gotten punched in the stomach, a memory came back into my head.

_"I hate you! I wish you were dead!" _

I started shaking violently as I remembered the last words I had spoken to my parents.

Did, did I kill my parents?

No. That's ridiculous. You weren't there when they died.

_But you told them you wish they were dead. It's your fault._

My brain hissed words of death into my ears. I stood up shakily, opening the door.

I needed to find someone. Anyone. I just needed someone to help.

I ran wobbly down to the living room, where I could see that the television was blaring some CNN show. I sniffled.

Suddenly, the person watching TV jumped and turned around. "Whose there?" He asked, turning his head to every direction. He didn't notice me.

"B-Bruce?" I called out, stepping out from the darkness. Bruce turned his head to see me and lifted his glasses from his face.

"Nadya?" He asked, and his face melted when they saw my tear stricken face. My face crumpled up and I let out a small noise that sounded like a dying hamster.

Bruce approached me slowly. "Nadya? What's wrong?" He asked, setting his glasses down on the coffee table.

I broke down. "Bruce! I killed them Bruce! I killed my parents!" I cried, bringing my hands up to my face.

Bruce walked quickly up to me and enveloped me into a hug. He rubbed my back as I cried into his shoulder. "What are you talking about, Nads? You didn't kill them." He led me over to the couch and after we sat down he continued to let me cry on his shoulder. "You didn't kill them." He repeated again, whispering it this time and kissing me on top of the forehead.

If this was the healing process, this was going to take a while.

.xxX

** AN: Hey guys! First off, thank you so much for the reviews. Nine reviews for two chapters is amazing. Thank you so much.**

** So I'm not really sure how much I liked this chapter. I liked certain parts, but not all. Let me know what you think! Also let me know if you find any mistakes!**

** I just wanted to get your guys opinions on something before the next chapter. If I had a contest and the prize was getting the answer to any question about the story, would you guys be into it? I know that EVERYONE has been asking if Clint and Natasha are really dead, so maybe if you guys won you could ask it. Let me know what you think.**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Let me know what you think!**

** Thanks guys!**


	4. Chapter Four

The New Generation

Chapter Four

"Nadya, you need to go to sleep."

"No." I hissed, shooting a glare at Steve, who sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why not?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Bruce and Thor came over the couches and sat down.

"What are we disagreeing about, dead humans?" Thor asked, tilting his head. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Nadya over here won't sleep." Steve muttered, as Bruce gave a questioning look.

"Won't sleep? What do you mean, won't sleep?" He asked, glancing between Steve and I.

I sighed and shifted my position. "She refuses to go to sleep. It's ridiculous." Steve said. I rolled my eyes and tried not to yawn.

No Nadya. You can't sleep. You know what happens when you go to sleep.

"Nadya, how long have you been awake for?" Bruce asked, narrowing his eyes and lifting his glasses from his eyes to the top of his head.

I muttered the answer quietly. "What was that, Nads?" Steve asked.

I cleared my throat. "Almost five days." I answered more clearly as Steve, Thor, and Bruce gaped.

"Five days?! Nadya! That's ridiculous!" Steve exclaimed as Tony shuffled into the room.

"Five days what?" He asked, plopping down onto the armchair across from the couch I was sitting on.

"It's been five days since Nadya last slept." Bruce filled Tony in as he gaped.

"Nadya? What the hell were you thinking? Five days?!" Tony yelled standing up suddenly and slapping a palm to his forehead.

I looked down to the floor. Tony started muttering something to Bruce and Steve, while Thor left to go to the kitchen.

"Nadya. Look at us." Bruce commanded and I snapped my head up to meet his gaze. "Nadya, do you understand that that isn't healthy?"

I nodded and bit my bottom lip.

"Then why aren't you sleeping?" Steve asked, and I looked at the ground again.

"I'm just not." I shrugged my shoulders and had to swallow to keep the yawn in my throat from coming up.

"Nadya, we both know that that isn't true. I can tell you're tired." Tony sighed, running his hands through his dark hair.

Suddenly, Thor came up behind me and handed me a 'Stark Industries' mug. I looked down to see a honey colored liquid.

"What is this?" I asked, quirking both my eyebrows.

"Tea. On Asgard we drink this, and it helps us fall to sleep." He answered, and as soon as he finished, I set the mug down on the coffee table.

"I don't want it." I hissed.

"Why not?" Thor asked. "It will help you fall asleep."

"Don't you understand?!" I cried standing up and walking a few steps away from them. " I don't want to sleep!"

All four sighed.

"Nadya. We're going to ask you this again. Why won't you sleep?" Tony asked, as the others nodded.

My bottom lip started to quiver and I bit it to stop. "Because, they keep coming back." I finally squeaked out.

"What keep coming back?" Steve asked, giving a surprised look.

I bit my lip again and looked around at the four pairs of eyes staring at me.

"The nightmares! The nightmares keep coming back!" I finally burst out and then sat down in a chair. I hugged myself to keep from shaking.

"Nightmares? What nightmares?" Tony asked, looking at the other men in the room and then finally me.

Bruce sighed and started to explain. "Nadya has been having nightmares. She thinks that she killed her parents."

Tony and Thor's mouths dropped. Steve hesitantly approached me and I hugged my knees to my chest. Silent tears were dripping from my eyes.

"Is this true, Nads?" Steve asked while kneeling in front of me. I slowly nodded and Steve sighed. He dragged me from my seat into a hug. "That's not true, Nadya. That's not true." That just made me cry harder.

I don't know if it was from being sad, or just from the lack of sleep.

Bruce, Tony, and Thor all discussed something while I shook in Steve's arms.

"Alright. We have a proposition." Tony finally announced and Steve wrapped only one arm around me so that I could look at Tony. "We need you to get sleep Nadya. But if you're scared about doing it, we want to help. So until your able to sleep without nightmares, we're going to take turns hanging out in your room while you sleep." Tony explained more when I gave a questioning look. "Trust me, it's not going to be as creepy as it sounds. We'll just hang out in there in your armchair doing work or something so we can be there if you _do _have nightmares."

I wiped my cheeks and looked around at the people in the room. "You guys would actually do that for me?" I asked quietly.

Bruce smiled. "Of course we would. In fact, I'll take the first shift, which starts -" He checked the wristwatch on his arm. "- now. Considering it's nine now."

I gulped and nodded. "So just go get changed and into bed and let me just grab my laptop and a few notes from my lab."

And with that, I was off to do the biggest test. To see if I could make it a night with out a nightmare.

.xxX

There was no such luck.

_This time it was different. _

_ I was standing in my room, reading the little pink journal my parents had given me. Then, out of nowhere, my mother and father appeared._

_ "Hey kiddo." My father greeted and I grinned as I set the journal down onto my bed._

_ "Mom! Dad! I missed you!" I cried, as I got up to hug them. They backed away._

_ "Nadya. Put that gun down." My mother commanded._

_ "What gun?" I asked, and then I looked down at my hands. In them was a small gun, one that my mother used frequently. _

_ "Nadya. We mean it. Put it down." My father said, backing up farther. _

_ "Mom, Dad! I'm not going to hurt you! I just want to hug you! I missed you!" I exclaimed as my mother and father broke out into a smile._

_ "We missed you too, my darling." My mother and father started to slowly walk up to me with their arms outstretched. I was just about to touch them when two loud noises erupted in the room._

_ The next thing I knew, my parents were on the ground, limp. I looked to my hands to see them shaking with the gun, a small stem of smoke coming from it, recently fired. _

_ "No!" I cried. "No!"_

I woke up screaming and sitting upright in bed.

A startled Bruce whipped his head towards me and stood up as I burst into tears.

"Nadya?" He asked, sitting on the bed next to me. "What's wrong?"

I struggled to tell him. "I-I killed them a-again Bruce. I k-killed them w-with a g-gun." I finally managed to blurt out.

Bruce sighed and hugged me tightly. "You didn't kill them, Nads. You didn't kill them." He rubbed my back as I continued to bawl.

I spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling, surviving on only a few hours of sleep.

.xxX

The next night wasn't easier.

_This time, I was standing in a court room, being questioned. _

_ "Miss Barton, did you or did you not kill your parents?" A female lawyer with a tight bun and in a gray pantsuit asked._

_ "I-I didn't." I exclaimed, looking at the judge. He looked back with a disapproving glare._

_ "Then why do we have it on record that you said to them before they left that you wish they were dead?" She asked, pointing at the typed records in her hands. She handed them to the judge and he looked them over._

_ "Because I was angry. That doesn't mean I killed them!" I cried out. A few people in the audience shook their heads. _

_ "Oh but it does, Miss Barton. It does." The lawyer said, and then cackled evilly. _

_ Then the judge spoke. "All in favor of Miss Barton killing her parents say 'I'." _

_ "I." The jury chorused and a police man approached me. _

_ "That said, Miss Barton, we find you guilty in the murder of Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton." The judge slammed his mallet onto his desk._

_ "No!" I cried. "I didn't kill them!" _

_ The police man was just putting handcuffs on me when -_

"Nadya! Nadya! Wake up!" I heard someone yell, and I opened my eyes to see Steve shaking me up.

I started shaking and my bottom lip quivered.

"Oh God, Nadya. Did you have another dream?" He asked. I nodded. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"You don't have to tell me." Steve said and I leaned into his shoulder and tears slipped out my eyes.

You know how I said I missed crying?

I don't miss it that much anymore.

.xxX

The third night was something.

I was dressed in my pajamas, and had just finished french braiding my hair when someone came in through the door.

I glared when I saw who it was.

"Landon. Why are you here?" I asked, sneering.

"Listen, I know it was my dad's turn to come in and watch you while you were um... sleeping. But he and the rest of the team had to go on a mission."

I gulped. "A m-mission?" I stuttered. Landon nodded. My stomach twisted in knots. The last time they went on a mission, my parents never came back. Oh god. What if something happens? What if -

"Nadya." I snapped my head up to meet Landon's gaze. "Nothing's going to happen. They're going to be fine." Landon reassured.

But still how did he know?

I shook my head to rid the thought.

"I don't need you here. You can just go." I told him pointing to the door.

He shook his head. "My dad told me I have to stay here. I can't just leave you here alone." I rolled my eyes.

I sat on my bed.

"I'm not going to go to sleep, so it's not like it matters that you're here or anything." I fiddled with my fingernails after I finished.

"Why aren't you going to sleep?" Landon asked, sitting himself down in the armchair in the corner of my room.

"Because I'm just not going to." I sneered. Landon rolled his eyes.

"That's not an answer. So why aren't you?" This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. I just sat there in silence. Maybe he'll just go away.

Landon got up and poked my leg. "Come on, Nadya. Why not?" He poked me again. I sat in silence. Landon kept on poking me until I decided I had had enough. It was just too much for one week and I just needed to get everything off my chest.

"Because, Landon! Every time I close my eyes I have nightmares of me killing my parents! Do you know how traumatizing that is? I can't just 'go' to sleep! I have to go to sleep with the constant fear of me killing my parents!" I yelled. By the end a tear had slipped out of my eye and I was standing in front of the armchair.

Landon just sat there with a solemn look on his face.

I finally just sighed and pointed towards the door. "Just forget it. Go."

Landon shook his head and stood up, and when he did, he towered over me. "No."

"What do you mean, no? I'm not asking you, I'm telling you to leave. So go." I spat. Landon just stood there.

"No." He finally said. "I think I know something that could make you feel better."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Haha. Very funny. What are you going to lead me out to some death trap or something?"

He shook his head. "Nadya, I'm not kidding. I want to help. Please. Just let me show you." I was taken away when he used the word please.

Who knew the idiot knew manners?

I finally sighed and let him lead me towards the door. When we were in the hall, he only walked down three doors when he put his hand on the door knob.

My eyes widened when I realized what door it was leading to.

"No. I can't go in there." I demanded, taking a step back.

"Come on, Nadya. It'll make you feel better. And you'll have to go in there sooner or later." Landon said. I gulped. He was right.

I sighed and nodded for him to open the door.

Right when he did, I stepped through the door to find everything the way I remembered.

Except emptier without my parents.

It was cold in the room, and I walked slowly, as if one sudden movement would make everything disappear.

I walked over to my parent's dresser. On it were a few pictures. One of me when I was a baby, smiling in a little onsie. Another was of Phil Coulson, my father's role model and close friend. The last one though, made my heart stop. It was of my mother and father and I in the living room of SHIELD, smiling and laughing. I grabbed in and tucked it under my arm. I knew I would want to look at it again later.

I then walked over to my parent's bed. On it was only one blanket, because my parents would constantly break out into sweat in the middle of the night and needed to be as cool as possible. I smoothed it out with my hand. It was a quilt with random patches and in the middle, was my mother's, father's and my hand prints ironed on. I didn't even know they had this. I folded it up quickly and tucked it under my arm with the picture.

Finally I made my way over to the dresser again. I pulled out one of the drawers and grabbed a pair of my mother's pajama bottoms and one of my father's many tee shirts.

Finally I sighed and looked over the place again. I knew I would be back in here, and somehow having things of my parents made me feel like they were here, watching over me.

I smiled happily for once in the past week, and then walked out the door. Leaning against the other side of the hallway was Landon.

He looked me over. "Are you okay?" He asked, unsure of the answer.

I smiled. "Actually, yeah. I am." Landon broke out into a grin at my answer. "I don't need your company tonight." I told him. "Coming here... it made me feel better. I think I'll be able to sleep better tonight."

Landon gave an uncertain look. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. And if your Dad gets angry about it, I promise I'll take the blame." I reassured him.

Landon shrugged his shoulders. "Okay. Goodnight." He turned around and started walking down the hallway.

"Landon wait!" I called out a he turned around. I ran up to him and gave him a tight squeeze. "Thank you. So much. Really."

Then I turned around and went into my room.

I slept like a baby.

.xxX

**There it is! The end of chapter four! I'm not really sure that I liked the ending, but oh well. It'll have to do. **

** Anyways, yay! Landon and Nadya moment! Who knows how long it will last though...**

** I just wanted to say that tomorrow I will not be able to post a new chapter, because it's going to be my best friend's birthday and I can't miss it. I will try to get a new chapter out on Saturday!**

** Speaking of Saturday! I decided to do a contest and Saturday will be the deadline!**

**CONTEST RULES**

** What should Nadya's middle name be?****Tell me what it should be any WHY, and which ever one I like the best, will win! The winner will get their middle name that they picked out and the reason why displayed in the story and will get to Private Message me a question about the story, which I will answer. Even if it spoils the big question: Are Clint and Natasha alive? DEADLINE: SATURDAY.**

**Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	5. Chapter Five

**Ahh! Guys I'm so sorry! Yesterday I went to my cousin's house and we watched Mulan and time just got away from me... sorry! Anyways... I'm going to shut up now and announce the winner for the contest.**

** The winner for the middle name contest is... Sarcastic Musician! Here was her winning review and the name of Nadya's middle name!**

_**...My first pick is Aminah, it's Arabic meaning 'feel safe'. I feel like since they know/knew a lot of languages and would want her feel safe (like they do with each other) this would work well...**_

__**Thanks to everyone who submitted! **

** Sarcastic Musician: Please PM me your question! And congratulations!**

** Anyways, on with the story!**

.xxX

The New Generation

Chapter Five

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_ This time, I'm not writing in this journal because I'm sad._

_ I'm actually really excited. _

_ So today, in about fifteen minutes, my senior year of school starts. Can you believe it? The last year before I go to college... _

_ Of course it's been hard, though. But I've been coping. _

_ It's helped a lot since I went into your room. For the past few days, sometimes I'll just go and lie in there, for hours, remembering some of the times we've had._

_ But I've been trying to get by. I know it'll be hard, but it's a start._

_ Today I even had our celebratory ice cream sundae that we have on the first day of school. It wasn't the same, but it was still nice. _

_ Well, I've got to go. Bruce said he's really excited about this year, and that for science he has an awesome new unit for Landon and I to study. _

_ I miss you. _

_ I love you._

_ -Nadya_

I slid the journal into my desk drawer and stood up from my bed.

Senior year. I can do this.

I slipped on a pair of sandals and hurried out the door to Bruce's lab, where we studied.

On the elevator, I wasn't alone. Landon was there, and I shot him a glare which he returned.

You know how we had a nice heart to heart? And how I even gave him a hug?

The next day he balanced a bucket of water over my door so I got completely soaked when I walked out of the room. I reciprocated by telling spraying his room with a shitload of strong perfume, so whenever he walked by he smelled like Bath and Body Works. Times ten.

"Ready for class?" He asked, with a slight anger in his tone.

I nodded. "I guess I kind of have to be." We stood the rest of the way in silence.

When the doors opened, I rushed through to the lab. I was really excited.

I opened to see Bruce and someone else quite familiar.

"Uncle Phil!" I yelled and crashed into him for a hug.

"Hey kiddo. It's good to see you too." Phil Coulson chuckled and returned the hug.

Okay, yes. Phil was not killed. My parents and the other Avengers had told the story a million times of how Phil had supposedly been killed by Loki, and then how everyone had been told that he had been killed. When in reality, Phil had used a Life Model Decoy, and had pretended to be killed because the Avengers needed something to motivate them in the battle.

Oh, and did I mention that he's my godfather? Some may think it's Tony, but Phil had been my father's closest friend, and was even the one that recruited him for SHIELD.

"Hey, Nadya, Landon." Bruce nodded a hello to Landon and I. We nodded back. "Ready for class to start?" He asked.

"Um no. I kind of would like to know why Uncle Phil is here." I laughed, sitting on a bar stool. Landon nodded in agreement and sat down next to me.

Bruce chuckled and sat down across from us, Phil following. "We'll get to that. First off, we need to talk about something." I gulped and I could see Landon did too. Bruce laughed. "It's nothing bad. Trust me."

We visibly relaxed.

"So do you remember those tests that we had you take last year?" Bruce asked. We nodded. "So we ran them through and found out some pretty awesome stuff.

"Both of you have passed twelfth grade English, social studies, language, and all the required courses. You also passed science and math. So technically, you could graduate right now." I gaped. I was about to yell out 'Yes!' but then Bruce continued. "But, if you too want to hold a position at SHIELD, you need to have a degree in some sort of science. So we would like to continue you education this year on just math and science. Mainly science.

"Now I understand that you, Landon, would like to focus on chemical science, is that correct?" Landon nodded. "And you, Nadya, would like to focus on biology?" I nodded. "So that's where Phil comes in. Landon, you'll be studying with me on chemical radiation. And Nadya, you'll be focusing with Phil on complicated sorts of biology. Does that sound like a plan?" For what seemed like the millionth time, we nodded again.

"Great!" Exclaimed Bruce. "We're going to start right away. So Phil and Nadya, you'll be over in the lab at the end of the hall."

I stood up and Phil followed. I smiled to myself. Spending a whole school year with Phil? He's amazing and we've always had a close relationship.

"So Nadya, you ready?" Phil asked. I grinned in response. "So I was thinking tonight we should go get dinner or something. I literally just got back from that mission in Africa, and we need to talk about some things." I gulped. He would want to talk about my parents.

"Okay." I agreed as we made our ways to the other lab. After making ourselves comfortable, Phil began.

"So. This year we will be focusing on some more complex parts of biology. Some parts that you will see if you work at SHIELD. The first one, however, is one of _my _personal favorites. We'll be studying Life Model Decoys." I laughed in response, which earned a grin from Phil. "So. Do you know any basics?"

I nodded. "Basically all it is is a clone." I shrugged and Phil smiled and quirked an eyebrow.

"See, _that,_ is where you're wrong." Phil stated and I gave a surprised look. "What we're talking about here is a complete copy of the person."

I raised my eyebrows. "How is that different?" I asked.

Phil smiled at my confusion and started. "A clone is a copy of the person, yes, but in a different way. The only thing that clones share with their original is DNA code. So yes, they are a copy, but only in appearance.

"A Life Model Decoy shares _everything _with their original. DNA, appearance, scent, speech, even how they think. Some scientists have even done studies that show that you can even sometimes see through a Life Model Decoy and control them. So if you think about it, they are very different than a clone." He finished, and I still was slightly confused about the subject.

During the next hour, we had an intense conversation on what makes LMDs possible. At first it was really confusing, but after help from Phil, I got the basics down.

"Here. Now that you know the basics, I want you to look at this clip. It's pretty interesting." Phil walked over the the computer and motioned for me to follow. Shortly after, he brought up a clip on NBC news.

A female reporter in a red jacket was sitting behind her desk. She had blonde hair and it was curled around her shoulders.

"I'm here with Theodore Walton, one of the world's greatest biologists, famous for his extensive work on Life Model Decoys. Now, Dr. Walton, apparently you've found an astonishing new discovery is that correct?" She asked, staring into the camera, waiting for a response.

It then cut to a room where a bald man with glasses with no rims, sat in a suit on an armchair. As soon as I saw his face, it seemed familiar. I don't know where from, but just very familiar.

"Do we know him, Phil?" I asked, receiving a questioning look from Phil.

"No... I don't think so. Why?" He asked.

"I don't know. He just seemed familiar." I answered as Phil shrugged and we turned back to the screen.

"That is correct." Theodore said, as the screen stayed on him while the reporter's voice came over the air.

"Care to share, Doctor?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, now what we have found here is a new discovery in the making of LMDs. Before this, we were able to copy everything onto an LMD from the original. Speech, scent, everything, sometimes you could even control your own LMD. But now what we've discovered is that you can take certain parts of DNA from one person, and put it into an LMD. Then we discovered that you can control this LMD with not only going through the eyes of one, but controlling it with parts of the brain.

"For instance, if we had a regular sheep, and we put it out into the wild, chances are it wouldn't survive. But now we could take DNA from a lion, say the instinct for killing, and insert it into the sheep. Now the sheep would be able to survive in the wild, with the DNA of a lion." The doctor finished and waited for the reporter to respond.

It was a few seconds before she answered. "Now, Dr. Walton, this sounds a lot like the super solider serum, like the one used on Captain America."

The doctor nodded again. "It is. But what's different about this from the serum, is that this is using DNA from another living thing. The serum was using artificial strengths to insert into the body, while this is using natural strengths."

"Now, but what if this falls into the wrong hands? What if someone finds this and makes an army of LMDs? Could this possibly provoke another battle like the one of 2012?" She asked.

"Honestly, it could. But right now only I know how to extract the DNA, and it won't be released until it is absolutely perfected." I swear I could see a certain flash of something in his eyes.

"Thank you for talking to us, Doctor." The reporter thanked as the doctor nodded.

"Thanks for having me." The screen then went to more links for other videos.

"Wow." Was all I could say. That was astounding. Making a powerful human being from other DNA?

"Pretty amazing, right?" Phil asked and I nodded.

"Well, we need to do some math. Alright?"

I sighed and we went into doing equations.

.xxX

A few hours later, it was already five and it was time to go out with Phil for dinner.

"Ready kiddo?" He asked, as we exited SHIELD and walked towards the black SHIELD car.

"Totally. Where are we going?" I asked as I sat in the passenger seat while Phil turned on the engine.

Phil looked behind him as he backed up. "I was thinking about that Italian place on fifty seventh. That okay?"

I nodded and the rest of the car ride was filled with Phil telling me about his mission to Africa.

.xxX

"Nadya, we need to talk about something." Phil said as I shoved a forkful of pasta into my mouth. I washed it down with a sip of water before I responded.

"About what?" I asked.

Phil looked straight into my eyes. "You know what we need to talk about Nadya."

I gulped. "My parents?" I asked.

"Exactly." Phil answered, wiping his mouth with his napkin and continuing. "How are you doing, Nadya? Tony said for a while you went without sleeping and eating. Five days?! Are you serious?"

I looked down at my lap. "Yes."

Phil sighed and rolled his eyes. "Nadya that's not -" I cut him off.

"Healthy, I know." I had only heard it a thousand times. "But I'm getting better. I've been able to sleep without a nightmare for three days now, so it's getting much better."

Phil sighed again and shook his head slightly. "I know. I'm just worried. You don't have siblings, and I'm always on missions, and the other Avengers always have other things to do too. I mean, you don't have that many people to talk to."

I didn't argue with that. It was true.

"That's why I was wondering why you don't talk to Landon that much. You guys could become good friends." I rolled my eyes right as he finished his sentence.

"Because he's an ass. That's why." I said bluntly, stabbing another piece of pasta onto my fork.

"But I think that -" He started and I cut him off again.

"Uncle Phil. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Okay?" I asked, angrily. He nodded and we sat in silence for a few moments.

A question popped up in my head that I had been dying to ask.

"Uncle Phil?"

"Yes?" He asked, looking up from his plate.

"Do you know how they died?" I asked shyly, quietly.

He shook his head sadly. "SHIELD won't tell us. Believe me I've tried to get the info, but they just won't tell us."

My shoulders drooped and I sighed.

"Nadya, I have something I need to tell you." I looked up, suddenly interested and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

"When, when you were little, you were kidnapped." I gaped at first and then smirked.

"Haha. Very funny." I chided, rolling my eyes.

"Nadya. I'm not kidding." I looked up when I heard the seriousness in his voice. Phil sighed. "You know how your middle name is Aminah, right?"

"Well, duh." I said, receiving an eye roll from Phil.

"See, when you were a baby, just born, not even named yet, someone came and kidnapped you. You were taken for a week before we finally found you, and when we did, we could find no traces of who did it. Not one. We still don't know.

"Right afterwards your parents named you. They decided on Aminah for your middle name, because it means 'to feel safe'. They always wanted you to be safe ever since you were little. And that is the true reason why you weren't allowed to go on missions." When Phil finished, all I could do was gape.

That was the reason I couldn't go on missions? That was the reason I couldn't do anything? Most importantly, that was the reason I told them I wanted to die, when really they just wanted me to be safe?

I felt my eyes well up with tears and a few dripped down my cheeks.

"Nadya? Kiddo, are you okay?" Phil asked, and when he saw my tears his eyes filled with concern. "Oh Nadya." Phil slapped down a one hundred dollar bill on the table, more than enough to cover the bill, and stood me up and we walked out of the restaurant.

As soon as we got outside Phil wrapped his arms around me and I stained the front of his jacket with tears.

Just when I thought things were getting better, they got worse.

.xxX

**I really, really like this chapter! Ahh! Except for the annoying amount of times I used the word 'nodded'. Seriously. Someone count them up for me. **

** Anyways, it's an information filled chapter, and it took a lot of thinking to pull it together. **

** Secondly, you guys are so awesome. TWENTY REVIEWS?! That's amazing. Seriously. I love you guys.**

** In case you didn't see, contest winner is posted at the beginning of the chapter. **

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review! **

** See ya next time!**


	6. Chapter Six

**Hey guys! I'm sorry I didn't post a chapter sooner. I just got caught up in school and in homework and stuff. So I think what I'm going to have to do is post a chapter every other day. I'm sorry. I'm just really, really busy.**

** Anyways: Since the last review response, a lot of reviews have come in, so I'm only going to do the ones from the last chapter. **

** Sarcastic Musician: Haha, I liked the perfume idea too! I had gone to bath and bodyworks earlier that day so I thought, why not? Haha. Anyways, congrats again on winning.**

** Morgan: Ah the updating thing. I can understand why you can't. It's just really hard to update everyday! Anyways, thanks for reviewing.**

** Mellbell12123: Ah! I know! Thanks for reviewing!**

** Meg123: Totally fine! :) I just want to say, you are probably the funniest reviewer I have. And I have the same issue with my mother... I'm not so sure she thinks I'm sane... anyways. I actually did see a bunch of cross country guys running shirtless so I think you sent some good luck my way! Thanks!**

** AlexisRomanoff-Barton: I don't know! You'll just have to find out! Thanks much for reviewing!**

** AvengerGal: Thanks! I can't say the LMD and Coulson was my idea... the new perspective on the LMD was, but the LMD/Coulson thing has been going around on the internet a lot... look up "Coulson Lives" If you haven't already!**

** Maggie: Awww, thanks!**

** GhostGlowLight: Haha thanks for reviewing, but the Nadya and Phil thing won't happen. It's would be a little weird considering he's her godfather and forty plus years older than her! But thanks!**

** Before we start, I just wanted to thank you guys. Twenty eight reviews is just amazing. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for anyone who has reviewed, favorited or followed the story. **

** .xxX**

I awoke to a sharp rapping on my door.

"Engh." I moaned, as I cracked my neck (my morning habit) and slipped off to the door. "What?" I barked as I opened the door. "Oops, hello Pepper." I said after I realized it was her.

"Hello, Nadya. I didn't wake you did I?" She asked in a cheerful tone.

"Well, you did, but I probably needed to get up anyways." I shrugged my shoulders and look at the clock to see it was past ten.

Pepper laughed. "Anyways, I need you to do something for me."

"Yeah, sure. What is it? Need me to print something? Need me to do the coffee run for you?" I asked, leaning against the doorway and yawning.

"No. I need you to hang out with Landon today." I nearly fell over.

"Me? Hang out with Landon? I don't think so. I'm sorry Pepper, but that is one thing I just can't do." I gave an apologetic look and raised an eyebrow.

Pepper laughed. "I know you two aren't the best of friends," That earned a roll of the eyes from me. "But it's his birthday and we're throwing a surprise party for him. We need him out of the house."

"Wait, it's already the twenty fourth?" I asked, eyes widening.

"Yes..." Pepper raised an eyebrow in confusion. I was surprised. Had I really not payed attention to the dates for that long? Wait, and that meant that my birthday was in four days?! Holy shit.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. But only for you and Tony. Just give me an hour to get ready." Pepper smiled and began to walk away.  
"Wait, what am I supposed to do with him?" I asked. It sounded like I was getting rid of a mouse or something.

Pepper shrugged. "Go to downtown New York City. He hasn't been to times square or anything lately." I sighed again and nodded. "Oh, and the party will start at four. Just tell him that we needed to do some stuff here at SHIELD that you two couldn't be present for."

I nodded once more and then headed back into my room.

I sighed and flopped onto my bed.

Five hours? With Landon?! How the hell was I going to do that?!

I had a credit card that was hooked into SHIELD, so we pretty much had unlimited cash. We could do whatever. But considering I really have never been on the best terms with him, I didn't know what the hell we were supposed the do.

I quickly took a shower and changed into a clean pair of skinny jeans and a flowery blouse. I decided I had some time to kill, so I went onto my computer. I hadn't been on in a while. I kind of had some things going on if you didn't remember.

I logged on to my email, drumming my fingers while I waited for the screen to load. I quickly scanned the unopened emails.

Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Spam. Coupon to American Eagle. Spam. Spam. Unread email from Clint Barton. Spam, wait what?

I scrolled back up and double checked. Yup, there it was. Unopened mail from Clint Barton. My heart skipped a beat as I clicked on it. I drummed my fingers harder while I waited for it to load.

As soon as it opened I read the time, as if somehow, they would have sent it recently. My heart dropped when I saw it was from the same day that they died.

I scrolled down to the text and started reading.

_Nadya-_

_ I know you're pissed off. But that was unacceptable behavior. You do not tell your mother and I that you hate us. Nadya you mean the world to us and it hurts when you say that. Do you understand? _

_ I'm writing this before we get off the jet. So I have to finish soon. _

_ But do you understand that we will talk about this when we get home? _

_ I love you._

_ Dad._

I bit my lip as soon as I finished reading. He had sent this right before he went into battle. Oh God. I could feel my eyes pricking with tears and then the door burst open.

"What the hell? Do you not knock or something?!" I yelled as Landon shrugged.

"I guess not. Anyways, my mom said we have to get out of the building so let's – wait. Are you, are you _crying_?" He asked, with a small hint of concern in his eyes.

I shook my head and wiped underneath my eyes. I glared.

"No. I'm not. My allergies are being stupid and my eyes are watery. So lets just get out of here." I lied as I led Landon out my door and onto the elevator. Landon faltered for a minute, and then followed.

Inside, Landon sighed. "So. What the hell do you want to do?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

I shrugged. "No idea. Do you have any?" I asked.

"Nope. We could go to Times Square?" He suggested, and I agreed. Might as well.

.xxX

"What the hell?!" I yelled as I felt someone sliding their hands down my back. I glared as I turned around to see Landon, smirking, with a fistful of dirt in his hands. I gaped.

"You did _not _just smear that down my back." I yelled as I turned around and stuck out my pointer finger at him.

Landon just grinned.

"You are so dead." I hissed through my teeth as I stood up.

Landon bolted in the other direction. I sprinted after him.

Running wasn't so hard for us, so even though we were running at the speed that might be fast for other people, we were just jogging. Landon kept looking back at me as he ran, with the same smile each time.

I glared and as soon as Landon had to stop to let a few joggers go by, I sprinted harder and caught him by the back of his shirt. I threw him on the grass with a quick snap down.

"You assho-" I started and yelped as I was pulled onto the ground next to Landon. I rolled onto my side and smacked Landon on the chest.

"Ow!" He cried as I sat up.

"You deserve it!" I said as I stood up and offered a hand to Landon, and this time he didn't pull me onto the ground.

"Whatever." He chuckled, as I hoisted him up and he straightened up his clothes.

"Shit. You got the back of my shirt all shitty!" I exclaimed as I examined the back of my blouse. Landon rolled his eyes and with a gentle hand brushed all the dirt off of it. "Thanks." I muttered.

"You got it. Anyways, what do you want to do? We have like three hours left." He ran a hand through his hair as he finished speaking.

I shrugged. "Well, I have to go get a couple things for class. So we should go to like a department store on the way to Times Square."

Landon nodded. "Me too. There's one in Times Square that we could go to. Do you want to go to a movie after wards?" He asked.

I shrugged again. "Sure. What else would we do?"

Landon smirked and we walked to the side walk and quickly directed ourselves. When we found which way we were supposed to go, we walked in silence.

God, what the heck were we supposed to talk about? We've never really had a civilized, normal conversation, you know, with things like 'how's the weather?'. The only thing we had in common was the Avengers.

I cleared my throat as I tried to bring up a conversation.

"So... do you remember that time when Steve was using the computer and accidentally found an adult website?" I asked, chuckling softly at the memory.

Landon burst out laughing. "Oh Jesus. Yes. Remember when we were seven and we tricked him into going outside with braids in his hair? And then we made my dad take him to a bar with them?" I snickered at the memory.

"Or when we told Bruce that he should wear yoga pants so that when he 'hulked' out he would have pants that stretch with him? And then he did it and he looked like a huge Victoria's Secret Pink model?" I asked, as we both erupted into laughter.

We brought up other memories as we made the walk to the department store in Times Square. We walked in silence for a few moments as Landon brought up something up pretty surprising.

"Hey, I guess we were like, friends when we were younger." He said, as my eyes widened at the realization.

Holy shit. I guess we were.

"I guess." I said. We made the rest of the trip up in silence.

As we walked into the department store, Landon rushed up to something as soon as he saw it.

"Holy fuck! Nadya! Look!" Landon ran up to a display of pink and purple tutus on a shelf. He picked up a pink one and slipped it on over his head as far as it could go. It only went to his chest.

I rolled my eyes. "You're acting like a fucking child. Take it off and let's go." I said as Landon crossed his arms and acted like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum.

"No. Make me." He then started prancing around like a huge, six foot three, toned, muscly, ballerina.

I earned some looks from store employees and a few girls my age. They snickered and walked off in the other direction. I hid my face in my hands to hide it from anyone and to hide the red that was appearing on my cheeks.

After Landon had finished his dreadful leaps, he started doing plies, and that's when I had enough. I walked up to him and slapped him on the arm.

"Stop it. Now." I hissed.

Landon gave a questioning look. "Why?"

"It's goddamn embarrassing, Stark. Stop."

"Why? It's not like anyone here knows us. And you'll probably never see them again. So just live a little. Come on!" He grinned as I got an idea.

"You're right. Here, over the head double high five." I said, smiling a fake smiled. Landon grinned more and held his hands over his head.

In one swift movement, I ripped the tutu over his head and shoved it back on the shelf.

Landon gave a disappointed look.

"I'll meet you here in fifteen minutes. See ya." And then I turned around to head to the school supplies.

As I walked there, it dawned on me. I needed to get Landon a present. I started thinking of ideas as I walked over to the shelf of notebooks.

I snatched a green one for science, and a red one for math. I also grabbed a pack of pencils.

I quickly stalked off to the regular aisles, and could find absolutely nothing for Landon.

What did he want? A power drill? A blender? An oven mitt?

Shit. I'll just sign someone's card or something.

I checked out and all my things were put into a paper bag. As I walked to the front of the store, I could see Landon with an identical bag, headed towards me.

"Hey, ready to go?" He asked, I nodded, still slightly angry about being embarrassed.

As we walked towards the movie theater, I asked Landon what he wanted to say.

"Lets just take a list of movies, and we'll close our eyes and pick a random one. Even if it's some kids movie." Landon suggested, and I agreed. Better than fighting over what movie to see.

.xxX

We settled down in the movie theater, soda and popcorn in hand. We had ended up choosing some chick flick drama, that I knew absolutely nothing about.

After the previews, and the first half of the movie, I was absolutely bored to death. And I'm pretty sure Landon was too. But considering we had nothing else to do, we just sat through it.

Something was happening about a girl leaving her family to go see the world. Then she received a phone call that she had to go home.

I sighed as she met up with an aunt or family friend or something. This was sooooo boring.

"Honey, I'm so sorry." The aunt/family friend apologized as the girl gave a questioning look.

"What? Why are you sorry?" The terrible actor asked over dramatically.

"Your parents..." The first woman started.

"My parents what?"

"They're... they're dead." My jaw clenched as the woman finished her sentence. My whole body tensed and I gripped the armrest of my chair nearest Landon until I had white knuckles.

Even though I was staring at the screen, I wasn't paying attention to the movie.

I felt my hand being pulled into another, with a gentle and cautious grip. I knew it was Landon, and even though we weren't on the best terms, I didn't fight it.

A single tear dripped down my cheek as Landon squeezed my hand. I gripped it the rest of the movie.

.xxX

Landon hailed a taxi as I quickly checked the time on my phone. Three forty five. Whew. We would make it.

As we slumped into the leather seats, and after Landon gave the address, I turned to him.

"You know, today was actually a lot of fun. Even though you danced around in a tutu and the actors in that movie were terrible." I commented as Landon chuckled.

"They were pretty terrible." Thank God he didn't bring up the death scene. "And I had fun too. Next time my mother makes me go hang out with you, I won't resist _as _much." Landon teased.

I smiled. Maybe we wouldn't be enemies after all.

.xxX

"Oh shit!" I cursed right as I walked into my room. I had forgotten to get a present for Landon!

I quickly looked around my room to see if there was anything that he would want. When I spied a loose leaf piece of paper I smiled.

I knew exactly what to give him.

.xxX

"Okay, Nadya, your turn." Pepper announced as she set the gift card Steve had gotten Landon for his birthday.

I handed Landon my sheet of paper. It looked pretty puny compared to Tony's gift of a motorcycle.

Landon raised an eyebrow. As he opened it, he read the text out loud.

"I, Nadya Aminah Barton, allow Landon Phillip Stark to embarrass me in public once without punishment." Right as he finished he grinned and the rest of the team chuckled.

"This is the best present ever. After Dad's gift of a motorcycle of course." Landon laughed as he looked it over again. "I will put this into good use."

My eyes widened. Shit. What had I done?

.xxX

I didn't really want anything big for my birthday.

Mostly because I told Pepper, and I quote, "I don't want anything big for my birthday."

She was questioning at first, but after I explained that I all I want was to hang out with the team and watch a movie or something, she agreed.

I also said I didn't want any candles on my cake.

When she asked why, I answered with, "Er... fire hazards?"

The real reason was that I didn't want to have to wish for anything. Because the only thing I wanted I could never have back.

.xxX

When Thor gave me a hammer key chain, I thought it was cute, because he probably didn't know what the hell a key chain was.

When Steve gave me a small Captain America shield key chain, I raised an eyebrow. Even though he had been asleep for seventy years, he should know what a key chain is.

When Bruce gave me one with a miniature Hulk, and Pepper gave me one with a chili pepper, I was more surprised. They were from modern times, and not that I'm trying to be greedy or anything, but a key chain wasn't really classified as a present.

When Tony approached me, I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess. An Iron Man key chain?" I asked as Tony shook his head.

"Nope. This." He handed me a key with a unlocker clicker thing. I gaped.

"Did you -" I started.

"Get you a car? Yes. I did. A 1969 cherry red Mustang." Tony finished, dropping the keys into my palm. My eyes widened. I had wanted that car forever.

"Oh my God. Thank you so much." I started, and I just didn't know what to say.

"Don't mention it." He said, smiling.

"And thank you guys too. Because I always need the Avengers with me at all times." I joked, and I slipped the key chains onto the key.

"Oh wait. Here." Landon said, reaching behind him and handing me the paper bag that we got at the store days before.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion.

I opened it up to see a bright pink tutu at the bottom.

"You didn't." I smirked, taking it out for everyone to see.

"I did." Landon laughed, as I set it back into the bag.

I was about to say thank you to everyone, when Pepper whipped something out from behind her back.

"We have one more thing to give you." Smiled Steve, as Pepper handed me the object, which ended up being a thick black binder.

I opened it up to the first page to see a picture of my mother and father, at their wedding. I flipped to the next to see my mother with a huge stomach, eating a sandwich. The next page had pictures of me when I was a baby.

I looked up to see everyone staring at me. I couldn't say anything.

"See? I told you it was a bad idea. It was all their idea, Nads." Started Tony.

"I love it." I finally managed to say.

"See? You guys I knew I made the right decision. This was all my idea." Tony said, holding his chin up high as the others rolled their eyes.

"It's a book from all of us. We all dug through a bunch of pictures and every single one we could find of you and your parents is in this. Everyone helped." Pepper explained as I flipped through the next few pages.

A few tears escaped from my eyes.

Bruce sat down next to me with a concerned look. "Oh no. What's wrong?" He asked, as I looked to him and smiled.

"These are happy tears." I explained with a grin. "Thank you guys. So much. Honestly. This means the world."

Then I embraced each person into a hug. Even when I got to Landon, I squeezed him in a tight embrace.

Who knew.

The first birthday without my parents wasn't so bad after all.

** .xxX**

** Thanks for reading!**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Hey guys! Sorry I couldn't update yesterday... or the day before that...my stupid friends keep having birthdays! And my math teacher assigns a shitload amount of homework. So selfish, they weren't even thinking about your feelings. Haha.**

** Anyways: This chapter will honestly make a couple people freak out, so if you have any medical conditions, make sure you're careful before reading this chapter. **

** Anyways, review responses!**

** Morgan: Thanks! Making it LAHVed instead of loved just made it eighty seven times better! **

** AvengerGal: Ah! I know! I wish I had a car... someday... thanks for reviewing!**

** Kaya Barton: OH MY GOD I LOVE YOUR LAST NAME. Pretty awesome! :) Anyways, thanks for the word/tip. I was trying to think of the word but I couldn't so I used bag of arrows instead, haha. Thanks so much for reviewing!**

** Sarcastic Musician: No review is horrible that involves a green llama wearing a purple party hat. Thanks for reviewing!**

** Mellbell12123: I know! Those little turds! They act like five year olds! Anyways... thanks so much for reviewing!**

** Meg123: Okay, you are hilarious. Like honestly, I would totally want you as a friend. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I would freak out too... I'll totally send you some shirtless guy luck your way, it's your turn. Thanks for reviewing!**

** Maggie: Ah! I didn't mean to do that! On it! Thanks for the mistake reminder! Thanks for reviewing also! **

** Bacon ninja1209: I most definitely will! Thanks for reviewing! Oh, and by the way... your pen name is awesome! :)**

** ONTO THE STORY!**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Seven

"But sir, please!"

I chased down the hallways of SHIELD, after Director Nick Fury, who currently I was furious at. Ha. Get it? Fury, furious?

Never mind.

"No." He said seriously, taking a right to the offices. I sighed angrily.

"Why?" I questioned.

"You cannot see your parent's files." Director Fury said, as he walked down through the hallway of offices.

"That's unfair. I should be able to!" I whined, as he rolled his eyes – er, eye.

"Barton, go. I don't need to deal with you right now. I have more important things to deal with." He finished and walked into his office, and started to close the office behind him.

"But Director Fury!" I stuck my foot in the door before he could shut it all the way. He sighed and sat down behind his desk, next to the file cabinet of all the files of SHIELD agents. I eyed it curiously.

I stepped into the office and crossed my arms.

"Please." I begged.

"No. There is no reason why you should look at your parent's files, Barton." Director Fury laced his fingers together on his desk and leaned forwards.

I clenched my fist.

"There's a really good goddamn reason. They're my parents and I should at least get to know how they fucking died!" I yelled, while Fury sent me a glare.

Quickly he pressed a button under his desk.

"What the hell are you doing?! Answer me!" I yelled, uncrossing my arms.

In a split second the door opened and Phil walked in through the door.

"Director Fury, you paged me – oh hello Nadya." He nodded in my direction. I turned back to Director Fury, who was just beginning to speak.

"Yes, Agent Coulson. I did page you, because I would like Miss Barton here to get out of my office." He finished, and glared at me and Phil.

Phil sighed. "Come on, Nadya. Let's go." He grabbed my arm and tried to lead me out, but I stood my ground.

"No. I deserve an explanation on how my parents died." I hissed. Phil turned to Director Fury.

"Actually, I'd like to know that too." Phil mimicked me crossing my arms and raised an eyebrow.

Fury clenched his jaw. "Just get out of my damn office. Before I forcibly throw you out." He hissed through his teeth.

Phil and I looked at each other, and then walked out the office. We walked down the hallway and out of the offices, until Phil stopped us.

"Listen. Nadya, you can't go back in there." He said, grabbing my shoulders.

"Why the hell not? How can he not let me know how my parents died?! I can't even read their files! I'm their daughter!" I yelled, exasperated.

Phil sighed. "I know. I want to know too. I'm sorry."

I sighed. "Then what the hell am I supposed to do? Just live wondering for the rest of my life?" I asked.

"Just give it some time. He'll have to tell you someday."

"Yeah, the day hell freezes over." I snarled. Phil chuckled.

"Just go do something to get your mind off things." He walked off in the other direction and left me standing there.

What the heck was I supposed to do? I can't just 'get my mind off of things'. It's not like my parent's death is just something I can forget about.

I sighed and stalked off to the living room.

Inside, I found Landon typing away on the computer. Silently, I walked up behind him.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, bending over his shoulder and squinting to read the text on the screen.

Landon jumped a couple inches in the air.

"Oh fuck!" He said, turning to face me. "You scared me."

I chuckled and sat down in a chair, leaning my long legs on the table.

"So, what are you looking at?" I asked again.

Landon sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Pranks." I raised an eyebrow and continued. "Last night Bruce, Steve, and Thor all pranked me."

"What did they do?" I asked.

Landon leaned back in his chair. "Steve took push and pull signs and put them on the opposite doors. I spent fifteen minutes trying to pull open a door when it really said push.

"Then Bruce took my keys on my laptop and switched them around, so when I looked down I couldn't tell which key I should have been typing. I spent all last night retyping my report for class.

"Then after having typed up my report, I went to bed at three in the morning. I then found out that Thor had hidden alarm clocks everywhere that went off every twenty minutes, and I spent the rest of the night running around trying to turn off all these alarms."

By the time Landon finished, I was laughing really hard.

Landon glared.

"I'm sorry... those were just hilarious." I said, grinning.

Landon rolled his eyes and went back to the computer.

I frowned. "Come on, Stark. Don't be like that." I poked him in the shoulder with my toe. He batted it with his hand.

"Come on. I'll help you. It'll be like old times when we used prank them when we were little!" I suggested. Landon smirked.

"Fine. But we have to do these today. I need to get back at them as soon as possible." He said and I straightened up in my chair, and scooted over to him.

"Okay, lets do this. We could..."

.xxX

"You're sure this will work?" Landon asked, and I nodded.

"Positive. Bruce always has this issue of not paying attention when he walks through a door. He's always talking to himself." I said, as I put the finishing piece of tape up.

I admired my work, to make sure it looked okay, and then Landon piped up.

"Oh shit! Here he comes!" He whispered and pulled me to the side.

Bruce came down the hallway whispering something that sounded a lot like the song 'Single Ladies', and flipping through a stack of papers on a clipboard.

Landon and I exchanged glances of excitement.

Then Bruce walked straight into a shield of plastic wrap, taped from side to side of the doorway of the lab.

He fell onto his backside, and then stood up and examined the door.

"What in the hell?" He asked, and we could see his fist clench.

Landon and I exchanged glances once more. Then, as quickly as we could, we bolted out of there as quickly as possible, because if we got caught, we knew what happened to Bruce if he got angry.

.xxX

With Steve, it was going to be a lot easier to prank him.

Considering he was asleep for seventy years, he kind of missed out on a lot of stuff. So for him, we could use a classic prank.

Landon and I sat downstairs in the meeting room, the living room and kitchen surveillance shown on the TV.

"Ready?" I asked. Landon nodded and pulled out his Stark phone, dialing Steve's number with star sixty-seven in front of it. He put it on speaker and set it onto the table in front of us.

"Hello?" We saw Steve on the TV pick up his phone.

"Hello sir," Landon started. "I am from the National Fridge association."

We saw Steve raise an eyebrow in confusion and lean forward in his seat on the couch.

"The National Fridge Association?" He asked, clarifying.

"Yes. We have a very important question to ask you today." Landon cleared his throat. "Sir, is your refrigerator running?" He asked.

We saw Steve stand up. "Let me check, sir." He walked over to the kitchen, opened up the refrigerator door, and stick his hand inside to see if it was cold. "Yes, sir, it appears it is."

Landon and I had to stifle our laughs. I couldn't possibly believe we could prank him with one of the most well known pranks.

"Well, if that's true, you had better go catch it." Landon said in the most professional voice he could. We were both about to burst into laughter.

Steve raised another eyebrow. "Sir, refrigerators don't have legs. How is it possible that they can run? Plus, wouldn't someone notice a fridge running out the door? I don't fully understand this question." Steve rambled and Landon hung up right after wards.

We burst into laughter as Steve inspected the fridge on the TV.

This was definitely helping me get my mind off of things.

.xxX

The next prank was definitely my favorite.

We had asked a driver to go out and pick up some blonde hair extensions, and we cut them to the correct length.

"He sleeps in the living room, right?" I asked, as Landon nodded.

"Thor naps from around three to five. And it's four forty five right now. So we only have a couple of minutes."

I grabbed the strands of fake hair and we silently walked into the living room. We found a sleeping Thor, under a blanket that was much too small for him.

We walked up and I nearly tripped over the rug, while Landon held up his index finger to his lips.

I glared and grabbed scattered the hair all over Thor's pillow. His nose twitched and Landon and I ran behind the couch. In a few seconds, he was awake.

"What is this?!" He boomed. "Why is my hair scattered on this cushion?!" We snickered as he lifted it off the pillow.

Suddenly, Tony came through the door.

"What's the matter, hammer time?" He asked, sitting in the couch that Landon and I were sitting behind.

"It appears that my hair has fallen onto this cushion." Thor said.

Tony laughed. "It looks like you're balding, big guy."

Thor's eyes widened. "How is that possible? In Asgard, hair is considered rank! I cannot be balding, that's not possible."

Tony laughed, and Landon and I chuckled silently.

We snuck off as Thor continued to rant about losing his hair.

.xxX

"Oh man. That was fun." I said as we sat down onto the couch.

"I know. It was just like when we were younger." Landon agreed. "And it was the perfect comeback to last night."

I laughed. "It was perfect to get my mind off things too." Shoot. Why did I say that? Right as I finished I shit my trap.

Landon raised an eyebrow. "What was on your mind?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"No, obviously there's something." He objected, leaning forward. "What is it?"

I bit my lip. "Fury won't tell me anything about my parents. Not even how they died." I said, looking towards the floor.

Landon sighed. "That's bullshit. You deserve a right to know." He said, leaning back.

I nodded. "I know. And it's ridiculous. He won't even let me see their files."

Landon bit his lip. "I'm sorry." I sighed and leaned my head on the pillow.

"You have nothing to apologize about." I said. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Want to watch a movie?" Landon asked. I laughed.

"Sure." So we sat in silence, watching a movie.

.xxX

"Nadya. Nadya, wake up." Landon shook me awake and I rubbed my eyes.

"What? I was kind of sleeping there." I said, sitting up.

Landon pulled me up from my position.

"Fury isn't in his office, and the rest of the agents are having a coffee break." He said, as I raised an eyebrow.

"And?" I asked.

Landon raised his eyebrow. "So, no one is in the offices." My eyes widened.

I nodded in thanks and hurried down the hallways alone.

I was going to get to see how my parents died.

Silently I moved past the agents on their coffee break, and slipped into Fury's office. I walked over to the huge file cabinet beside Fury's desk and slid open the drawer labeled 'Partners'. I flipped past half a dozen before I found a manilla file that said 'Barton-Romanoff' on the top.

I looked around the office nervously.

Picking the file out of the drawer, I sat down in one of the chairs across from Fury's desk.

_SHIELD AGENTS ROMANOFF/BARTON._

_ AGED: 42 and 44_

_ TALENTS/SPECIALTIES: Romanoff: Master assassin, skilled in martial arts, gymnastics, hand to hand combat._

_ Barton: Master assassin, skilled with bow and arrow, hand to hand combat._

_ BIRTHPLACES: Romanoff: Russia, raised in Red Room._

_ Barton: Unknown, raised in southern circus._

_ PARTNERS FOR: Almost twenty two years._

_ PERSONAL INFORMATION: Married to each other for nineteen years, share one daughter, Nadya Aminah Barton, aged eighteen years (see separate file)._

Nothing caught my eye. I flipped through medical information, SHIELD identification, and pictures before I saw something that made my mouth drop.

I almost dropped the file.

_STATUS: Missing In Action._

** .xxX**

** Ooh! Cliff hanger! You guys are going to kill me!**

** I'm sooooo sorry I didn't update sooner! I've just been really busy! Sorry! **

** Anyways, I'm going to start this new thing where I have a 'question of the chapter' every time. So here's this chapter's!**

** Last chapter, I mentioned how Nadya got a green notebook for science. Do you have different colored folders for different classes? I'm pretty OCD about organization, so for example: Math = Red, Science = Green, American Studies/ Social Studies = Purple, etc... Does ****anyone else do that?**

** Anyways, love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Hey guys! So again, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while. School has just been really busy, and algebra's a bitch so... I really haven't had the time to do anything. So I'm sorry for not updating, and for leaving you hanging with a cliffhanger!**

** Before I do review responses, I just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. As cheesy as that is, it's true. Honestly, I didn't expect to get this many reviews from only seven chapters, and it's just amazing. Thank you so much.**

** Review Responses!**

** Kaya Barton: Thanks so much!**

** T Ginger: Haha, I'm glad you're liking it so much!**

** Sarcastic Musician: Bilburt, bahaha! Anyways, sorry to make you think about school supplies... anyways. I love looking up pranks! The internet has everything! Thanks for reviewing!**

** Mellbell12123: Ahhh! COINCIDENSES! Thanks for reviewing!**

** Maggie: Thanks! Maybe!**

** Morgan: Hope I didn't drive you insane! Thanks!**

** FemaleMuskateer: Who knows? You might not be the only one! Thanks for reviewing!**

** RealMcCoy16: Thanks so much!**

** Precious93: Ah! I'm sorry! :( Thanks for reviewing!**

** AvengerGal: We'll just have to see! Thanks!**

** Meg123: Yay you saw a shirtless guy! Oh god. If I met Robert Downey Jr, I would die. Like literally. Heart attack. Right there. Thanks!**

** Lcelinaoc: I don't know! We'll just have to see! And thanks for your input on the sheep lion thing. I didn't really know, but it was just a guess, haha. Thanks for reviewing!**

** Bacon Ninja 1209: Thanks so much!**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Eight

As soon as I read those three little words, Missing in Action, everything slowed down.

The ticking of the clock matched with the beat of my heart, and the blur of the red second hand made my eyes go in a complete circle. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was sit there with my mouth gaped and a small squeak that came out.

Missing in Action. Not Killed in Action, _Missing in Action_.

If they were missing, why hadn't Fury told us? Why had he kept my parent's life state a secret from me?!

I threw the papers down onto the desk, and snatched my phone out of my back pocket. I quickly snapped a few photos of the file. I was smart enough to not take the file with me.

I stomped over to the file drawer and shoved the file into the correct spot. I sneaked past the SHIELD agents, and stepped into the elevator.

Muttering to myself in Russian, something hit me.

"Oh fuck!" I cried.

My parents might be alive.

Alive. Not dead.

They might be somewhere walking on this earth. Breathing. Thinking. _Living_.

But why would Fury lie about that? Why lie about someone living?!

I couldn't believe it. I was ecstatic. My parents, who I had been told a little less than a month ago were dead, might not be. I mean, there was always that chance that they could be dead. But a chance that they were alive was better than no chance at all.

I grinned to myself. I just couldn't help it. There was a chance that I might see my parents again.

Then I stopped myself in my tracks when I heard the voice behind me.

"Barton. Stop right now." I turned my head and widened my eyes when I saw Fury chasing behind me.

I clenched my jaw. "What do you want?!" I asked, trying to calm the thought of punching Fury in the face.

"Where you in my office, Barton?" Fury asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. I licked my lips.

"Yeah, I was. When I came into your office and you refused to tell me how my parents died!" I yelled.

"I didn't mean earlier," Fury raised his voice. "I meant now. I'll ask you again. Were you in my office?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Goodbye." I turned around and started to walk away.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Barton." He put his hand on my shoulder and I whipped it out of his grasp.

That's when I snapped. "Yeah, actually, I do. And you know damn well what _I _mean when say that my parents could still be alive!" I screamed.

Fury clenched his fists. "That is disclosed SHIELD information. You had no right to see that file."

"Yes I did!" I screeched. "It's about my parents! And how they might still be fucking alive! How dare you say that I have no right to see that! It's definitely my right!" Turning around angrily, I stomped off down the hallway.

"Where are you going Barton?!" Fury questioned, obviously following me.

I whipped my head around. "I'm going to go do something you should have done a lot sooner. I'm going to go tell the rest of the team so that I can get my goddamn parents back!" I screamed in his face.

"No you're not." He said calmly.

"What do you mean, I'm not going to?! Of course I will. I have the right to!" I spat.

Fury crossed his arms. "No you won't. And you never will." I glared in confusion. "I have the authority to kick you out of this SHIELD. I have the authority to make sure that you don't get into college. I can make sure that you will _never _get a job. Hell, I even have the authority to wipe you out of everything. I can make sure that you will never be Nadya Barton again. You'll just be a regular person. And you'll never have contact with anyone in SHIELD again. Including your so called 'second family'."

As soon as he finished I gaped.

"Y-you wouldn't." I stuttered.

"Oh, I would. And I can do it like that." Fury snapped his fingers. "So if you tell anyone about any of this information, I will make sure you are wiped off this radar. Goodnight, Barton."

And then he turned around and stalked off.

When he walked into the elevator I realized that a tear had fallen down my cheek. I wiped it away hastily.

I was so close. So close to _maybe _seeing my parents again. Hugging them again. Telling them I was sorry.

But then it was taken away. Like that.

My whole life. It would be taken away. Even if I told the Avengers, and they found them, I would probably get shipped out to an unknown location before I saw them.

And I would never see the team again. Never see the people who had helped me through everything and became the new family I needed. I couldn't do that.

But my parents. The possibility of seeing my parents again was astounding.

But what could I do? My family or my life and my _other _family?

I couldn't choose that.

I stomped down the hallways, towards to my room. I was almost there when I bumped into someone. That someone was Landon.

"Whoa there." He steadied me from falling over, and when I didn't look him in the eye and tried to escape, he could tell something was wrong. "Nadya, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." I muttered, trying to escape again. He moved in front of me so I couldn't get past.

"Nadya, come on, I'm not stupid. Something's wrong. Tell me." He demanded. I crossed my arms.

"Nothing is wrong Landon!" I yelled.

"Nadya, we're friends, come on -" He started and I cut him off.

"Nothing is fucking wrong! Now let me get past!" I screamed. When he saw the tear that escaped my eye, he moved out of the way and I stormed into my room.

Instead of collapsing onto my bed, I angrily changed my clothes. Weird right?

After changing into some of my parents clothes, I collapsed onto my bed. And cried.

I know, I know. I do it a lot. But this time it was different. I wasn't crying because I couldn't see my parents again because they were dead.

I was crying because I couldn't see my parents again, and they were alive.

I couldn't do anything about this.

Then I remembered. I got out of my bed and grabbed my phone out of my jeans pocket.

I found my recent pictures, and tapped on the ones that I had just taken in Fury's office. I zoomed down into the information after it said MIA.

I could barely make out what it said, but I could tell that it was there.

_Location: Sweden_

Setting my phone down, I had a thought. "JARVIS, how far away is Sweden from New York?" I asked into the empty room.

"Three thousand nine hundred fifty four, Miss Barton." JARVIS answered in a calm voice.

Sitting for a moment, I thought in silence.

And then I made the most crazy decision in my life.

I was going to go find my parents.

.xxX

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon. I had barely gotten any sleep after my decision, considering I had so many things to do.

I had texted Pepper this morning asking, _Hey, team dinner tonight?_

She had texted back with a _Sure, seven o'clock sharp._

If I was going to leave, I needed to say goodbye to the rest of the team. I couldn't just leave without saying it.

I lifted the five letters for Bruce, Thor, Steve, Tony, and Pepper, off my desk and tucked them underneath the bottom of my drawer.

"JARVIS?" I asked.

"Yes, Miss Barton?"

"If I happen to not make it back, will you please tell them the location of these?" I asked.

"Of course." He responded.

"Oh, and JARVIS?" I asked.

"Yes, Miss Barton?"

"Erase this conversation off of your hard drive. And any footage of my for the next day." I told the AI, dragging the duffel bag out from under my bed.

"Of course, Miss Barton."

I stood in question for a moment. What was I going to need?

I grabbed my huge puffy coat, and stuffed it down to the bottom. After packing a few comfortable outfits, and toiletries, I moved to the secret drawer that my parent's never knew I had. I grabbed anything that I knew I would need.

So you know, guns, ammo, expandable bow, arrows... things that a typical eighteen year old would need.

A sudden thought hit me, and I sat on the edge of my bed. I pulled out the little pink journal and a pencil.

_Mom and Dad,_

_ I can't wait to see you again. _

_ I love you,_

_ Nadya_

I left the journal in my side table. I knew that after I saw them, I could tell them how I felt. Not the journal.

I smiled at the thought of my parents.

I was really going to do this.

.xxX

We all laughed as Thor finished wondering about culture on Earth. I gulped as I thought that this might possibly be the last time I would see them.

I could feel Landon sending me a questioning look. I suddenly felt very guilty for brushing him away yesterday.

"Anyways, I finished the pocket sized suit I've been working on." Tony said. Landon grinned. Everyone else congratulated him and then we all turned back to the spaghetti on our plates.

After a few minutes, I knew I needed to tell them I loved them potentially one last time.

"I love you guys." I smiled, setting down my fork. Everyone sent me a look of confusion.

"We love you too, honey. But we knew that already. Why'd you have to tell us?" Pepper asked, tilting her head. I shrugged, even though I knew the truth.

"I don't know. I just wanted you guys to know." I said, turning back to my food. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Landon shooting a judgmental look.

I gulped as everyone turned back to conversation. I needed to come back. I couldn't live without these guys.

.xxX

"JARVIS, make sure all my credit card activity won't be displayed." I told him quietly, as I shoved my duffel bag onto my back.

"As you wish, Miss Barton."

I took one last look around my room, and then shoved something on my dresser into my bag. The photo of my parents and I in the living room.

As I turned off the light, I slipped quietly out the door and to the living room. I had to walk through the living room to reach the only elevator that led me out of the building, and considering it was one in the morning, I knew no one would be there.

When I arrived in the empty living room, I shuffled to the elevator, when a voice stopped me.

"Where are you going, Nadya?" A familiar Landon Stark walked out of the shadows. My eyes widened.

"No where. Just for a walk." I gulped.

"With a duffel bag, jam packed?" He asked, stepping closer.

I nodded. "I'm feeding pigeons? I have a shitload of bread in my bag." I gave a weak smile.

"At one in the morning?" Landon asked again. I nodded. He sighed and stepped closer. "Nadya, I know what you're doing."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Landon crossed his arms. "I know that you're going after your parents." He said. I gulped but then covered it up.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, walking towards the elevator.

"Nadya, you can't do this. You can't go after your parents. It's not safe. Have you even thought about it?" Landon asked. I bit my lip. I really hadn't thought it through. "Nadya look at me." I looked up. "I saw your parents file after you did. I think that Fury's a dick for not telling you, but it's not worth it to go risk your life. Just stay here."

"I can't stay here. Don't you understand that? If I stay here, I'm never going to see them again. They won't come back on their own. SHIELD's not going after them. And if I tell the team, Fury's kicking me off of everything. I have to go after them. It's the only way." I said. I could feel my eyes tearing up.

Landon sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This is a stupid idea." He said. I didn't answer. I didn't need another lecture. "Just wait one second." He said, holding a hand out to me.

I stood there, waiting, as Landon ducked behind the couch and grabbed something. I then realized it was a gray duffel bag. I raised an eyebrow.

"What's th-" I started, when Landon cut me off.

"I'm coming with you."

** .xxX**

** Sorry the ending's kind of rushed! I wanted to get it out tonight!**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Hey guys! I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the chapter! Sixty four reviews?! That's amazing. Thank you so much.**

** Review Responses! **

** Yolynnjones: Thank you! I was worried about it being too rushed, so thanks for the feedback!**

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** Sarcastic Musician: Haha, I love Clintasha! Marvel NEEDS to make a movie about them! By the way, I checked out your wordpress blog, and I loved it! It was hilarious! You NEED to continue! Thanks for reviewing!**

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** Meg123: Oh teachers. Don't worry, anyone who loves Marvel is NOT a loser. A couple of my teachers absolutely hate me. Like my French teacher yelled at me for clapping with my arms crossed. I have no idea why. Probably because I talk a HUGE amount in class. Oops. Oh noesss! I better hurry so I can see a shirtless Jeremy Renner! Thanks!**

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** ONWARDS!**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Nine

"What do you mean, you're going?" I asked, shooting a glare and crossing my arms.

"I'm not letting you go try to find your parents by yourself." Landon said, slinging the duffel bag over his left shoulder.

I huffed. "Who ever said that I wanted you to come with me?" I asked.

Landon stared me straight in the eyes. "Oh, it's not a choice."

"What do you mean? This is involving my parents! I'm pretty damn sure that I get to make that choice." I argued. Landon rolled his eyes and pressed the elevator button.

"No. This is involving your safety. You're not going out to find your parents alone. Don't you understand how dangerous that is?" He asked.

I bit my lip and nodded. "But can't you understand that this is something I have to do alone?" I asked. "If something happens to me, and you're with me, something will most likely happen to you. I can't deal with the guilt of not returning you to your parents."

Landon ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "But can't _you _understand that..." He trailed off towards the end. I raised an eyebrow and what seemed like a small blush came over his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "Can't you understand that if something happens to you how guilty I – I mean everyone will feel?"

I twiddled my fingers and looked at the ground.

"Okay." I said in a small voice.

"What?" Landon asked, as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"Okay. You can come." I said as we stepped inside.

Landon smirked. "I was going to come anyways." I let out a small chuckle. "So, where are we going anyways?" Landon asked.

"Sweden." I answered as the doors closed and I saw the last image of SHIELD before my eyes.

.xxX

"So what's the plan?" Landon asked as we walked outside of SHIELD into the refreshing, crisp air.

"We're taking my car to the airport. I already told JARVIS to make sure our credit card activity isn't shown, so when we get there we'll take the soonest flight to Sweden." I told him, motioning to my car. Landon nodded and we walked towards it. I snatched my keys from my pocket and unlocked it with a click of a button.

"And from there?" Landon asked. I sighed.

"I honestly don't know." Landon returned the sigh at my reply and opened my trunk. After throwing both of our bags in, he replied.

"You really didn't think this through, didn't you." I shook my head and turned the key in the ignition.

I guess I really hadn't thought this through. After I decided that I was going to go after my parents, I really didn't really give myself enough time to think about it. Shit.

Landon groaned. "You know, you could just go back and let me do this like I originally planned." I snapped.

Landon glared. "We've already been over this. I'm not letting you go alone, Nadya."

"Whatever. Just go to sleep or something. It's going to be a long drive to the airport." I told him, turning my head to look behind me to back out.

Landon raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You look pretty tired."

"I'm fine." I reassured, and Landon shrugged and leaned back his seat. Within a few minutes he was knocked out.

While driving to the airport, I tried to ignore my sweaty palms and the thoughts raking through my hair.

.xxX

"Thanks." I said as the woman behind the counter handed me Landon and I's tickets. I passed one to him and pocketed my wallet.

"You ready?" He asked, as we walked through a crowd of people, all trying to get to their gates.

I nodded. I glanced up at the signs above us.

_Security – This Way_

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Oh shit." I hissed. Landon stopped and stared in confusion.

"Whats the matter?" He asked.

"Our luggage." I said. He raised an eyebrow. I sighed.

"They have to check it."

"Well duh – oh." Landon started, and then realized what I meant. Our guns, knives, and other things were inside of our bags. "Did I not tell you what I did when you were in the bathroom?" He asked.

I shot a look. "Do I want to know?" I asked back.

Landon rolled his eyes. "It's nothing bad." He said. "I had JARVIS screen our items so that when they pass through the security belts, it'll only look like common items. Do you really think I would let us pass through security with those?" He tried to avoid the word 'gun', considering we were in an airport.

I shrugged and we continued walking. When we got to the screening, I slipped off my tennis shoes and sweatshirt so I could pass through without hassle. Landon did the same.

My eyes widened when I saw that they were about to check my bag. My palms suddenly became sweaty and Landon tugged me along.

"It's fine." He whispered into my ear and then shoved my shoes into my arms. I let out a sigh of relief as they passed the bag along the belt.

I slipped on my tennis shoes, snatched my jacket and followed Landon to our gate.

"You ready?" He asked again, and I nodded.

This was the first step of getting to see my parents again.

.xxX

"We are in the air, ladies and gentlemen. Please relax and enjoy the rest of your flight." The pilot's voice clicked off and I sank back into my chair.

Landon was lost in a book that he had bought before we came onto the plane, where as I thought that I could use sleep to occupy myself.

Wrong.

The seats on this airplane were small as hell, and not to mention that the hard wall next to me provided no comfort at all. I sighed. I might as well try as hard as I can.

First I sat normally, with my hands crossed on my lap.

Nope.

Then I tried sitting with my head leaning against the side of the plane, feet curled underneath me.

Nope, that's goddamn uncomfortable too.

Finally, I got an idea. I reached in front of me to undo the fastener of the tray table. As I lowered it so that it was horizontal to the ground, I swung my feet up and onto it.

Still not comfortable, but better than nothing.

I closed my eyes.

Until I heard a chuckle beside me. I pulled my eyes open to see Landon smirking.

"What are you doing, Nadya?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Trying to sleep, duh." I answered shifting my position slightly.

"Comfortable there?" Landon asked, smirking again.

"Not particularly." I answered truthfully. Landon laughed. I just shook it off and tried to close my eyes again.

I wasn't so lucky. I craned them open again when I felt something moving my feet. That something was Landon.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as he laid my feet across his lap.

"You look like an idiot with your feet like that. And don't tell me that this isn't more comfortable." He answered, rolling his eyes and going back to his book.

I didn't argue. It was pretty comfortable.

So finally, I was able to close my eyes and let sleep overcome me.

.xxX

When I woke up, I immediately blushed at my position.

My legs were still laying on top of Landon's lap, but I had scooted up and now my head was laying on his shoulder, and his arm was around _my _shoulders. He had obviously fell asleep reading, because his book was laying on top of my legs and his head was laying on mine.

I lifted my feet and moved to sitting position. Landon's brows furrowed, and it seemed like he was trying to find something to clutch. I silently laughed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are ten minutes from landing. Please put all tray tables up, and make sure your seat belts are fastened." The pilot's voice filled the air and I poked Landon in the arm to wake up.

"Landon. Wake the fuck up." I poked him again and he stirred, mumbling something. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"Jesus Christ. I'm up, I'm up." Landon groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

I laughed.

"Come on. We're in Sweden!" I exclaimed, opening the small window cover to reveal gorgeous green forests, with a few small buildings scattered around. As we got closer to the airport, there was more buildings and less forests.

I sighed.

We were in Sweden.

.xxX

"Holy fuck. This is amazing." I gaped as we entered the hotel. It was huge, with high ceilings, old decor, and bellboys running around, it almost felt like we were in a different time.

"I'll go check in." Landon said, holding out his hand. I handed him my credit card and told him my pin, and he walked to the front desk.

I gaped and turned around in a complete circle. _This _is where we were staying at?! Jesus. If this was like how all missions were, I would sneak out and do them all the time.

I dug in my pocket and pulled out my phone. I clicked the on button, but I wasn't surprised when it didn't turn on. I made a mental note to charge it later.

"Room three-oh-nine," Landon said, handing me an extra key. He pointed to an elevator and we walked over to it. As we stepped into the elevator, I noted the fancy golden rails. "So after we get in there I'm going to shower, and then I think that pretty much after that I want to order room service and sleep." I nodded furiously.

"Me too. I'm tired as hell, even though I slept that whole flight." Landon agreed, and the elevator dinged to reveal our floor. We quickly located three-oh-nine, and again, I gaped as I opened the door.

It had two queen sized beds, high with big white comforters and fluffy pillows. It was decorated with pictures of Swedish mountains and forests. There was a desk in one of the corners with eight outlets above it (I made a mental note to remember to plug my phone in there). There was also a flat screen TV above the outlets.

Landon plopped his things down onto his bed, and unzipped the duffel bag to take some pajamas and toiletries out.

"I'm going to take a shower." Landon said, and I nodded in response. I stretched out on the bed and grabbed the remote off the side table in between the two beds.

I flipped on the TV and scrolled through to find a channel in English, finally. It was some soap opera drama show, but it was better than nothing.

I laid onto the bed and tried to relax. God, was it a recurring thing where I can relax?

While barely paying attention, I grabbed my own pajamas, plaid sleep shorts, a tank top, and mismatched socks out of my bag and quickly changed.

I sat back down onto my bed.

Ah. Much more comfy.

Ten minutes of some lady trying to find her long lost half-brother later, Landon stepped out of the bathroom in a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing on top. I blushed at the sight of the defined six pack.

When I saw Landon smirk at my staring, I quickly snapped my head towards the TV. Landon was putting on a white tee shirt when I asked, "What do you want for dinner?"

He shrugged, sitting down on his bed. "Whatever you're having. I could honestly care less. I just want some food." I chuckled and ordered us some strange Swedish food that seemed edible.

.xxX

I set down my plate on the desk and grabbed my phone from my bag on the way.

"Will you take my plate?" Landon asked. I took it and set it down too, and then plugged my charger in the outlet, and the cord into my dead phone. I was just coming back when Landon climbed under the covers. "I'm going to bed. You can stay up later if you want. Just don't have the TV on too loud." He said.

"Kay. Goodnight." I said, turning the volume on the TV down just a bit.

"Night." I turned off the light on the side table and kept my eyes glued on the TV. Again, I was barely paying attention.

Jesus. I can't believe I was in this situation right now. I was in Sweden. With Landon. Trying to find my parents.

A sound snapped me into reality. I whipped my head up to realize that it was my phone turning on. Finally. It had been dead forever.

I got up as notification after notification flooded my phone. I was confused. I usually wasn't this popular. I soon realized that a bunch of them were voice mails.

I lifted my phone up to my ear.

_"You have twenty new messages."_ The electronic voice said into my ear. I raised an eyebrow. Who was trying to contact me so urgently?

_"First new message from Tony Stark." _

"Nadya? Hey, it's Tony. I'm just calling because we can't find you. Nadya, where are you? We're really worried. Just please, _please _us back whenever you can. Bye."

_"Next message from Bruce Banner." _

"Hey Nadya. It's Bruce. We woke up this morning and you and Landon were gone. Nadya, if you're mad at us or something, please call me. Okay?"

_"Next message from Pepper Potts."_

"Nadya, honey? Where are you? Where's Landon? We can't find you. Honey, please talk to me. Text me. Please."

_"Next mess-" _I hung up as soon as the next message started. I could already feel my eyes tearing up.

Finding my messages, I clicked Tony's to see at least thirty new ones.

_Nadya,_

_ We can't find you or Landon. We need you to contact us. We've been out all around and we can't find you anywhere. We can't find any footage on JARVIS, credit card information... anything. Nadya please talk to us. We all love you and miss you. Please contact us. Please. Love you, Tony. _

I scrolled through the rest. They were all like the ones before. But there were ones from Steve, Pepper, Bruce, Phil, and even one from Thor (how they got him to text, I have no idea).

I didn't realize it until the tears had reached my mouth that I was crying. I choked back a sob, and covered my face with my hands.

I was causing them this much pain and I couldn't even contact them back.

This time my sobs came out louder and I immediately tried to take them back but that couldn't happen. Landon stirred in his sleep and then sat up in sitting position. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, "Nadya?"

I tried to be as quiet as I could with tears streaming down my face. He rubbed his eyes and leaned forward in bed, and then flicked on the light. As soon as he saw my face he was out of bed.

"Nadya? Nads, what's wrong?" He asked coming over and crouching beside the chair, so that he was looking up at me. I tried to speak but all that came out was that dying hamster noise.

Landon stood me up and enveloped me into a hug. I cried against his chest as he rubbed his hand up and down my spine. After a few minutes, he pulled me away from him.

"So, what's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" He asked, looking from my head to my feet. I shook my head and took a deep breath.

"I-I-I turned on m-my phone and ch-checked my messages." I gave the phone to him and he scrolled through the messages from everyone. His eyes softened at them and he pulled me into another hug.

"I don't understand. I thought you told the team about your parents not being dead, and they refused to go after them. I thought that's why were here." Landon said I as shook my head in his chest.

I finally composed myself enough to speak without stuttering. "No. The night that I came storming into my room, Fury talked to me before," I felt Landon go tense at the mention of the director. "He said if I told anyone about them, that he would wipe me off SHIELD. Make sure I never would get a job. Never go to college. Anything."

"I'm sorry." Landon apologized, and I shook my head again.

"Nothing to be sorry for. I just feel bad that I'm making them worry that much. And I just can't deal with not being able to tell them where I am." Another tear slipped out of my eye. Landon wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

"It's okay." He pulled me into another hug and we stayed like that for a few minutes until I thought of something else and more tears escaped my eyes. "What's wrong this time?" Landon asked.

"I just realized that I didn't let you have time to say goodbye." I said softly, as Landon raised an eyebrow.

"Say goodbye... is that why you told everyone you loved them at dinner that one night?" He asked. I nodded. "Why would I need to say goodbye?"

I gulped. "You know. Just in case..." I trailed off at the end.

Landon sighed. "Nadya." I looked down at my shoes. "Nadya, look at me." I turned my head to meet his eyes. "We didn't need to say goodbye. We're going to see them again, and we'll find your parents." He reassured me.

I bit my lip.

I could only hope that would be true.

.xxX

**This chapter... ergh. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Some parts I like, some parts I don't. So let me know what you think. Oh, I forgot to do this last chapter! **

** Question of the chapter: Best Marvel movie in your opinion besides Avengers?**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**

** See ya next time!**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Hey guys! As I said in the author note last time, I haven't been able to update lately because my computer was being annoying and wouldn't charge. But it's back and working and were one big happy family again!**

** Review responses!**

** Lollypops101: Thanks so much! Haha, my parents told me that too!**

** Sibunagirl-0331: I love that movie too! Thanks for reviewing!**

** Meg123: So let's start with the crying part. I totally understand and I felt like I made her WAY too needy. :/ Oh well. I guess that that's what I would do if I was in that situation too, but thanks for your input. I was wondering if anyone else felt that way. And I absolutely love all the Marvel movies too! Thanks for reviewing!**

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** Sarcastic Musician: Oh Jesus. A Clintasha movie. I would die if that happened. I'm really excited for the SHIELD TV show coming out, so maybe that would have them in it. And the blog thing, it's no problem. I have a fictionpress account, and I wasn't getting that much feedback, but then a couple of people told me they liked it and I should continue. The impact of just one or a couple of people can make a HUGE difference. It's awesome that I could make that difference in your life! (Oh and by the way, I love your take on how computers have bipolar disorder!)**

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** ONTO THE STORY!**

** By the way, it's a filler/important part... so it might not be the best.**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Ten

"Answer the goddamn door, Nadya." Landon yelled as a pillow hit my head, coming from Landon's direction.

"What the hell? It's too fucking early." I complained as I dragged myself out of bed. I shuffled to the door, Landon moaning as I flicked on the lights.

"Hello?" I asked, yawning, as I opened the door. I squinted, adjusting to the much brighter lights out in the hall. I was surprised to see a man, probably in his late twenties, in a bellboy uniform.

"Hello ma'am." The man said in a heavy Swedish accent.

"Um, hi." I answered, scratching my head and yawning again. "I don't mean to be rude, but could you please tell me what you're doing here so early?"

The man chuckled. "You are from America, yes?" He asked. I nodded. "You appear to still be jet lagged, Miss. It's around six in the morning your time, but here it is almost noon. So it is not so early."

"Oh. Sorry." I apologized and the man waved me off.

"It is quite alright. But I am here because I have your newspaper that the man who checked in yesterday asked for." He handed me a newspaper and smiled.

"Oh, thank you. Wait right here." I left the door open a crack and went back in the room to grab a quite generous tip. After giving it to the man and shutting the door, I chucked the paper at Landon's head.

"Enhh." Landon replied, chucking the paper half heartily at me with his head still in the pillow.

He missed me by about three feet.

"Get up. It's already noon here." I said, sitting down on my bed and rubbing my eyes.

"So? I would still be sleeping if we were in New York anyways."

I rolled my eyes. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Walking over to Landon's bed, I snatched all the covers and pulled them off the bed and onto the floor. Landon yelped at the sudden coldness.

"Nadya. You're dead." Landon hissed, as I rolled my eyes again and walked to my bed. I huddled under the covers and grabbed the TV remote off the table.

I was really surprised to see Landon stand up and climb under the covers of my bed. "Landon. What in the fuck are you doing?!" I asked as Landon stole a pillow from behind me and shoved his face in it again. I scooted over and sat up.

"Obviously I'm trying to get back to sleep since you stole my covers." I sighed stood up.

"I'll give you fifteen minutes. I'm going to go take a shower." Landon moaned in response and I grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom.

.xxX

After coming out in a long sleeve shirt and skinny jeans I was surprised to see Landon dressed. I adjusted the toothbrush that was currently in my mouth to talk.

"I'm surprised you're up." I said, going back to the bathroom to rinse and grab a hair tie off the counter.

Landon shrugged. "Eh. I guess." I laughed softly and slipped on a pair of socks. "I do have something to ask you though."

"Hm?"

"Do you want to go to a gala tonight?" He asked, as my eyes widened.

"A gala? Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Landon shoved the newspaper into my hands. I looked down to see the familiar bald man Phil had shown me in the classroom. "Theodore Walton? What does he have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well, I knew you were studying Life Model Decoys, and it turns out that he was from Sweden. And it also turns out that he was having a huge gala tonight to show his new discoveries in the Life Model Decoy field. So I thought you would be interested." Landon explained.

I was surprised Landon knew this much about what I was studying. "This looks awesome, Landon. But... don't you think we should be looking for my parents?" I asked.

Landon sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"Look, Nads, I want to find your parents just as much as you do. I do. Really." He started. "But you deserve a night off. You've been so stressed lately that you just deserve to relax."

I gulped. I guess I have been worrying about my parents a lot.

I sighed. "I guess. Let's do it." I told him and Landon grinned. "But we are not going in these clothes."

Landon's eye widened. "You don't mean..." He started.

"Yes. We're going to have to go shopping." I said.

Landon fell to his knees. "Noooooooooooo!" He yelled for a long time. After he was done, I scoffed.

"That was lame." I said.

"Well duh. I was supposed to have a camera above me zoom out on me." He stood up grinning. I rolled my eyes.

It's shopping time.

.xxX

"Nadya. Can I get this one?" Landon asked as we passed a pastel blue tuxedo. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. If it was nineteen eighty three." I answered. Landon laughed and walked with me towards the front desk of the shop.

When we saw that it was empty, I dinged the little bell on the top of the desk. Landon walked over to examine other tuxedos in different colors.

"Hi, can I help you?" An man, around fifty and balding, came out with a smile.

I returned the smile. "Yes, hi. He needs a tux for tonight." I answered and the man nodded.

"I'll just need to get his measurements." He said, and I motioned for Landon to come over. "Just stand over there." The man motioned to the small circular platform near a mirror for Landon to stand on. I followed as the man began to take the measurements.

"Any colors in mind?" The man asked while measuring Landon's legs.

Landon grinned. "How about orang-"

"Black. Just black." I told the man, and he laughed.

"I'll be right back with your suit." The man said and he went to the back of the shop.

"You're no fun." Landon said, turning to me.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm so sorry that I didn't want to go to a fancy gala with some idiot wearing an orange tux."

Landon laughed. The man came out of the back holding a hanger with a tux on it, and handed it to Landon.

"The fitting rooms are right there." He motioned to the left of the mirror.

"Come out and show me when you're done." I told Landon and he nodded in response.

I fidgeted with my hands, tapping them on my thigh. I can't believe I'm going to this gala. It's going to be amazing. I was going to get to see the man who was revolutionizing the Life Model Decoy. I couldn't wait to tell Phil when I got back.

Well. If I got back.

A voice interrupted my thinking. "Nadya?" I whipped my head to see Landon calling out to me. "How do I look?" He asked.

I looked down to see him in his black tux. How did he look? Amazing. Honestly. He looked dashing in the tux, and it fit him perfectly.

I smiled and turned to the man. "We'll take it."

The man smiled and let Landon go change back into his regular clothes. I handed him my card and he rang it through the machine, punching a few buttons. Landon came out as I was putting the card back into my wallet, and handed the man the tux, which he put into a plastic cover and then into a bag.

"You two make an excellent couple by the way." The man mentioned as he handed Landon the bag and me the receipt.

I blushed, and I could see Landon did too. "Oh, we're not together." I explained and the man shrugged.

"My mistake." He said and I nodded. "Have a nice day."

.xxX

"What do you mean, I have to wait here while you try on all these?" Landon asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Come on. I stayed while you tried on your stuff. You can wait while I try on these." I chided.

"It was one thing! You have like, fifty! Come on." Landon whined. I rolled my eyes again.

"I have five. And it won't take that long." I said and walked into the dressing room. I could hear Landon sigh from outside.

After putting on the first one, a green one with a scoop next and cap sleeves that went to my knees, I came out to show Landon with a disgusted look on my face.

"I look like a Christmas tree." I sighed, as Landon burst out laughing.

"I'm not going to lie. It doesn't look that good." He chuckled and I rolled my eyes and walked back into the dressing room.

Three dresses and no success later, I only had one dress left. It was a long elegant black halter, with no back that was fitted and went just below my ankles. Slipping it on, I held my breath, wondering if this was the dress.

I smiled as I saw my reflection. I think this may be it, but I still had to see if Landon liked it. I stepped out shyly from behind the door. "Last one." I said.

Landon's jaw dropped as soon as he saw me. He just stood there, gaping and looking me over. I frowned. "Does it look that bad?" I asked.

Landon's eyes widened. "No, no, no. It looks... you look... you look gorgeous, Nadya. You should get it." Landon said, and I blushed.

"Really think so?" I asked. He nodded and smiled.

Good enough for me.

.xxX

"Ready to go?" Landon asked from outside the bathroom door.

"Just about." I answered, as I finished putting on some mascara and taking a look over myself. I had my hair down, with I rarely did, and I had also put on some light makeup. I sighed, deeming myself presentable, and walked out the bathroom door. Landon was sitting on the bed in his tux, tying the black dress shoes we had gotten after dress shopping.

Landon grinned as he saw me. "You look good." He said and I grabbed the heels from beside the door. I sat down next to him, slipping them on.

"So do you."

I smiled and stood up, Landon following.

"Now I'm ready." I said as Landon held his arm out to me.

"Shall we?" He asked in a terrible British accent. I laughed and took his arm.

"Yes, we shall."

.xxX

When we got there, it was gorgeous. Everyone was dressed in fancy clothes, a string quartet was playing, and the gala was decorated beautifully.

Landon and I found our ways to an empty table, where food was just being put in front of us.

"Gorgeous place, huh?" Landon asked as he unrolled his napkin and I did the same. I nodded.

"It's amazing."

The rest of the dinner was filled with small talk, considering more people came and sat next to us, until this came up.

"So, how do you two know each other?" A woman with a heavy Swedish accent asked. Landon and I looked at each other and Landon said something that nearly made me choke.

"Oh... we're married." He said smiling at the woman. I coughed on the food I had just swallowed. Landon looked at me with a concerned look. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" He asked, grinning.

I nearly rolled my eyes. Fine. If he wants to play this game, so be it. "I'm fine, dear." I answered, lacing my fingers with his.

"Married? But you are so young!" The woman exclaimed and I laughed.

"Our parents didn't approve of our relationship so we got married as soon as we turned eighteen and moved here." I explained.

Hey. This was fun. Making a cover was like playing a game.

"That is a shame." She said. "You two make a lovely couple."

I blushed at the same words that the tuxedo shop owner had said earlier.  
"Thanks." Landon smiled and stood up. "Well, would you like to dance, sweet wife of mine?" He asked.

"Sure." I laughed and he pulled me away from the table.

"That was... interesting." He chuckled as we got to the dance floor.

He placed his hand on my hip, as I placed mine on his shoulder, and then laced our loose hands together and swayed back and forth. I looked at our hands, to see a strange red and gold bracelet on his wrist.

"What's that on your wrist?" I asked as Landon smiled.

"The bracelet suit Dad's been working on." He answered with a smile. I smiled back and then had a thought.

"Wait, wasn't there already one of those, where it came and attached to you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This is different. That came to you. The whole suit is packed into this one." Landon answered.

"The whole suit. Into that small little bracelet." I asked skeptically. Landon nodded.

"I'll show you sometime."

"I'd like that."

.xxX

After a few more minutes of dancing, everyone was told to go back to their tables because Theodore Walton was going to start speaking. As soon as we sat down, we had to stand right back up to clap, because Dr. Walton walked through the entrance.

When I looked at him I got that same feeling I did in the lab with Phil. I just felt like I knew him from somewhere. Dr. Walton smiled and gestured for everyone to sit down, which we all did.

"Hello everyone. I'm Dr. Walton, but you probably already knew that." He began, and we all laughed. "So as you already know, I am here to unveil my new work on Life Model Decoys. But of course, couldn't have done this without my dear sister. So I'd like to introduce you to her, ladies and gentlemen, this is my sister, Sabrina Walton." He gestured to the door as everyone clapped and a woman, with blonde hair and extremely high heels walked through the door.

The same feeling his me, like I knew her from somewhere. I shook it off. That was stupid. How would I have ever met these people in my life?

Dr. Walton continued after the clapped ceased. "Anyways, in a few minutes, I will be unveiling the new concept of LMD's. They are based after Sabrina and I, and are almost exactly like us, except for a few small traits of the subjects we extracted the DNA from, which are barely unnoticeable. We are trying to fix it as soon as we can, but considering we have it this close, we'd love to introduce it to the public. So, here we go. The LMD's everyone. I will be available for questions by the table over there, and go right ahead and talk to them as normal people." After he finished, he opened the curtain to reveal a man and woman, looking almost exactly alike Dr. Walton and his sister. Everyone clapped furiously and Dr. Walton and his sister went to the questions table.

I smiled at Landon. This was amazing! I was going to be able to see a Life Model Decoy!

"I'm going to go see the Life Model Decoys." I told Landon as he nodded and made conversation with a few others.

I walked over to a line of a few people, waiting for their turns, but luckily by the time I was first in line, it had only been a couple of minutes.

Upon further inspection, they're were a few things that were different from the originals and the LMD's. Sabrina's LMD wasn't a full blonde with straight hair, she had small red highlights in her hair and it was short and curly. Dr. Walton's exactly like him, except for the fact that he had a small dusty blond goatee on his chin.

"Nadya, darling! It's so good to see you!" LMD Sabrina exclaimed. My eyes widened.

"H-How do you know my name?" I asked, taken aback. LMD Sabrina shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name. Did you think I do?" She asked, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Wait, she doesn't know my name? I must have just imagined that.

"I'm sorry. I must have just imagined it." I apologized and LMD Sabrina smiled.

"Quite alright, darling." The way she said darling. It sounded almost like my mother. I stood in confusion again, and then LMD Dr. Walton spoke.

"Hey kiddo. What's up?" He asked. I was taken aback again. Kiddo? That... that was my dad's nickname for me.

I shook it off. I'm sure a lot of people use kiddo as a nickname.

"I'm doing fine, I just wanted to see how you two were working, but I think I have to go and let the person behind me go. It was nice talking to you." I said and began to walk away in confusion.

"Nadya, wait." I spun around to see LMD Dr. Walton staring at me. "Later we need to talk about your behavior towards your mother and I before that mission." Then he shook his head like he was ridding a memory and began to talk to the next person in line.

My mouth gaped and my hands started to shake. I whipped my head in all directions, trying to spot Landon's familiar black haired head. When I finally found him, he was talking to the woman from our table earlier.

"Excuse me. I need to talk to my husband for a moment." I interjected, giving a small smile to the woman and dragging Landon by the arm out the door. Landon tried to get me to talk a few times but I told him to shut up and keep walking.

By the time we stopped Landon's face was full of concern and he looked me over.

"Nads? What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" He asked, and clenched his fists. I quickly shook my head.

"I know where my parents are."

** .xxX**

** Muahaha! Cliffhanger!**

** I'm sorry guys. Don't hate me. Anyways... Super long chapter! I felt bad about leaving you guys so long with out one that I just had to make this super long...**

** Question of the chapter! If I made a sequel to this story after it was done, would you read it? I have a few ideas and I'd love to know if you'd be interested in reading it or not. Also, I have an idea for a Captain America/OC story, so let me know if you would be interested in that either! Thanks!**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	11. Chapter Eleven

** Hey guys! I am SOOOOO sorry I haven't been able to update. School's been really stressful and tiring, and this chapter will probably be not my best because I haven't really been inspired to write lately. But I will continue the story and I'm sure I'll get super excited again. **

** Before I start with review responses, I just wanted to thank everyone. From the last chapter, I got over one hundred reviews, and it just means so much. Honestly. I never expected to get this much feedback from my first story. Thank you so much. Thank you.**

** Review responses!**

** Redraven274: Thank you so much! It's really good to know that!**

** Precious93: That's good to know ;) Thanks!**

** Bacon Ninja1209: Oh my god. When I read this, I literally laughed out loud. I didn't even know if there are really orange tux's, because I've never seen one, but I thought it would be a good color, haha. I will definitely watch it. It's my homework since I don't have any. Thanks for reviewing and your input on the sequel!**

** Morgan: Thank you so much! I'm glad I'm keeping you on your toes! :)**

** Sarcastic Musician: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're warming up to Landon! :D Yes, me too! I can't wait for the show. Look up SHIELD TV show characters, they put up a list! I'm so excited! EEEE!**

** Mellbell12123: Aw thank you! **

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** Sharpie-Marker1101: Thank you! I'm glad it's unique. I'm glad too that you like Nadya's name! I wanted it to sort of be like Natasha's. CLINTASHA FOREVER.**

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The New Generation

Chapter Eleven

"What do you mean?" Landon asked, mouth gaping.

"I know where my parents are." I said, I couldn't tell whether to be happy or angry.

"H-how do you know where they are?" He stuttered, surprised.

I sighed. "You know how in the presentation Dr. Walton said that in the experiment that there were some defects?" Landon nodded. "He said that in some cases the DNA from the subject might make the LMD have some of the traits of the subject. So after I left you, and went to the LMD's, one of them called me Nadya."

Landon raised a brow. "Well, that's your name isn't it?" He asked.

I sighed again heavily. How was I going to explain this? "No shit. But I didn't tell them my name. They called me by my name before I told them it." I said and Landon stood in confusion. "They talked to me like my parents did. The LMD modeled after Sabrina Walton addressed me as Nadya and Darling. The LMD modeled after Dr. Walton called me kiddo. Those are things my parents would only know. And then, at the end, they told me we needed to talk about my behavior before they left for the mission." I finished, and took a deep breath.

Landon ran a hand through his hair. "Well... what does that mean?" He asked.

"It means, that Dr. Walton has something to do with my parents. And I intend fully to find out what."

.xxX

"Nadya... I've been asking you this this whole time. What are we doing?" Landon asked as he shut the hotel room door behind him.

"Obviously Dr. Walton's LMD's have something to do with my parents. We just have to figure out what." I said, as I kicked off my heels into the corner of the room and rummaged around in our luggage. "You brought the Stark tablet, right?" I asked.

Landon nodded. "Yeah, it's in the side table drawer." I grabbed the tablet and quickly logged onto the internet. I typed in Dr. Walton into the search engine and sat down onto the bed. Landon sat next to me and I double tapped to enlarge the screen. The first result was rather pleasing.

It read; "Walton Labs" and underneath it had the information on the LMD's. I scrolled down to the bottom of the website, where the FAQ was listed among other things. Zooming in, I smiled when I saw one little word in tiny black print. Location.

"Landon, are you familiar with the Scandinavian Mountains?" I asked, setting down the tablet.

Landon nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Did a report on them a long time ago." He said shrugging.

"Well, we need to make a late night shopping trip." I smirked, grabbing a pair of sweats and walking into the bathroom. "Get changed. I'll tell you about it in a minute."

.xxX

"Wait, so we're doing what?!" Landon asked, as we stepped out of a taxi and onto the curb. I shivered and hugged myself as Landon stopped me.

"In the heart of the Scandinavian Mountains is the laboratory of Dr. Walton. Tomorrow, we're going to catch a train that takes us the nearest we can to to the mountains, and after that, we're going to backpack to the laboratory." I finished with a half hearted smile. Landon's eyes widened.

"Backpack? Through the mountains of Sweden?" He asked, running a hand through his hair. I nodded. "Nadya, are you positive that he has something to do with your parents? What if it was just a coincidence? We would have gone all the way in the middle of a _mountain _for nothing."

I glared. "It's not for nothing. It's a shot at finding my parents, and frankly, I'm willing to take any chance there is for that cause." I snapped. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I can do this on my own."

Landon sighed and fiddled with his hands. An awkward thirteen seconds later, he replied. "Listen. I'm not letting you go alone. And I know how much this means to you, and obviously if I was in the same position, I would do the same. So let's go get what we need."

I grinned and we glided past the front doors into the store, a lot like a Wal-mart, except Swedish. I grabbed a cart and we sifted through the aisles.

"Let's see... we'll need two sleeping bags." I said as Landon grabbed some off the top shelf and dumped them into the cart. "Flash lights. Batteries. Hiking backpacks." Landon grabbed at least five packs of batteries, two flashlights and two lanterns, and two huge backpacks, ones that look like they should be on a camel.

Next we moved onto the food, which was going to be a challenge. Obviously we could get water on the mountain, so all we needed were a few water bottles. After that we grabbed a small, eight by eight, portable grill so that we could at least have some sort of warm food on the trip. But here was the tricky part. We could grab a few cans of food, and some huge packages of food, but we didn't know how long the trip would be. Considering we had to bring clothing, weapons, sleeping bags, and other things, we didn't have much room for food.

"I hate to say this, but we might have to set a limit on time." Landon said. "I think we're going to only be able to be there for four days. Two days there, and two days back. We don't have enough space to bring anything else."

I gulped. He was right. I nodded and we moved on to get some warmer clothing, including long johns, coats, gloves, and hats (Landon had found an Iron Man one, which he demanded on getting).

.xxX

"What's your issue?" Landon asked as I stared at my clothes. I bit the inside of my lip in thought.

"I don't mean to sound like a total cliché, but I have no idea what to wear to this thing." I answered, rummaging through the clothes I had. "Jeans? A sweatshirt? What am I supposed to do if we go into combat?" I asked.

Landon chuckled. "I have no idea. I'm just wearing regular clothes because I have the suit but – oh shit!" I raised a brow.

"What's so important?" I asked, as Landon broke out into a grin.

"Okay, so don't get mad..." He started.

"That's not a good way to start a sentence." I said skeptically. Landon laughed and then grabbed his duffel bag off the ground, and set it upon the table. Unzipping it, he smiled a little as he snatched something and hid it behind his back.

"Okay. So when I went into your parent's room, I found this on a hanger and thought of nothing of it. But then after I realized we were going to go find them, I knew that you would like this. So I took it with me, for exactly this reason." He finished, and then handed me something. At first I had no idea what it was, but after I spread it out, I realized it was one of my mother's black SHIELD suits.

I broke into a grin, and then attacked Landon with a hug. He was tense at first and then returned it. "Thank you so much." I said.

"For the suit? It was nothing." Landon said and I shook my head.

"No. For everything. For coming with me, for helping me, just... everything." I thanked, looking up at him and smiling. He squeezed me tighter.

"Like I would really let you go alone."

I laughed. "That probably wouldn't have worked as well as I would have wished. I'm going to go shower and change, okay?" I said, letting go and grabbing my clothes. Landon nodded and on my way to the bathroom, I examined the suit more.

.xxX

"Goddamn, it's freaking cold." I hissed as I hugged myself tighter.

We were at the train station, and although I had on at least three layers of clothing, I was freezing. Landon nodded and jumped up and down to keep warm.

"It'll get better. It's early in the morning, and even on the mountain, it has to be warmer later than it is now." Landon said as we stood up at the announcement of our train boarding.

I nodded in agreement.

.xxX

Wrong. Landon was fucking wrong.

We had been hiking for at least five hours since we arrived at the base of the mountain, and we had at least another six until we could stop and rest.

"This fucking sucks." I swore, adjusting the heavy backpack on my back and clenching my hands. "Why couldn't my parents have been captured on Hawaii or something?"

Landon laughed, and I could see his breath in the air. "I wish. And the worst part about this is that I can't say that it's as cold as hell, because frankly, hell seems a lot more appealing than this."

I chuckled. The cold air nipped at my nose as we walked further up the mountain. "So what's the plan? Go up as high as we can and then see if we can find it?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess. We're going to have to stop in a couple of hours to set up camp. It'll take a while to set up and get the food set up." Landon said.

"So I guess we have time to kill." I said, biting the inside of my cheek. "Hey Landon. I spy with my little eye... something that is white."

Landon turned around just to roll his eyes at me.

"Hm... I wonder. Could it be snow?" He asked sarcastically. I grinned.

"Damn you. You got me."

.xxX

"Here, Nadya." Landon said as he handed me a bowl of soup, that we had just made on the portable grill. I took it gratefully and sat up in my sleeping bag to eat. I had on all of my clothes that I could layer, because frankly, it was still could as... well... the opposite of hell.

Landon, on the other hand, hadn't had much luck. The only pants he had really brought were pajama pants, jeans, and the long johns we bought, and you can't really layer jeans on top of jeans. But we both had on sweatshirts, long sleeve tees, and a shitload of socks. We had already found out that we couldn't wear our coats and fit into the sleeping bags, so we had to do without.

We were tucked inside a little cave, nearly towards the top of the mountain. Seriously. We only had about another forty feet to go before we reached the tip. But we had decided to stop here to eat and sleep since it would be dry.

Finishing the soup, I stood up and quickly rinsed the bowl out with a splash of water. Literally running back to my sleeping bag, I snuggled deep into it. Landon and I were laying side by side, a few feet apart, with a lantern in the middle of us.

"Can I turn this off?" I asked, breaking the long silence. Landon nodded and I swear I could see him shivering. I flipped off the switch and it was completely dark, except for the strip of moonlight shining into the cave.

Hugging myself in the bag, I thought of my parents, and how it was going to be – wait, what was that? That noise, it sounded like objects hitting each other repeatedly. It stopped for a moment, and then picked up again.

Then I realized what it was. I flipped on the lantern and Landon's sleepy eyes met mine.

"What the hell?" He asked.

"I can hear your teeth chattering." I answered. Landon sighed.

"Sorry." He apologized, laying his head back down onto the ground. I stared at him for a moment, and again, I swear I could see him shaking again. Turning off the lights and rolling onto my side, I tried to drift off to sleep again.

Tried.

The next thing I heard was again, Landon's teeth chattering. Sighing and turning back around. I stepped out of my sleeping bag and unzipped it so it resembled a blanket. This time, Landon was the one turning on the lantern.

"What are you doing? I'm sorry if my teeth chattering is keeping you awake." He apologized, rubbing his eyes.

I didn't say anything in response, just walked over to him and laid the sleeping bag over him.

"Open up the bag." I said and Landon raised an eyebrow. Unzipping the bag, I laid down beside him and zipped it back up.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Listen. You're freezing. I'm freezing. Just shut up and go to sleep." I said, rolling around. Landon chuckled and then, to my surprise, snaked an arm around my waist. I didn't object. He was pretty warm.

And finally, I turned the lights off for the last time.

.xxX

"Landon, come on. You're taking forever." I said the next morning, as I adjusted my backpack and put my glove clad hands on my hips.

Landon was still stuffing things into his bag when he replied. "I'm sorry. I don't remember having this much shit with me last time."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to go scope out the tip."

"Fine. Just don't get to far ahead." Landon said, and I slipped out of my backpack and up the tip.

I hustled up, half trying to see what's at the top, half trying to keep warm.

I trudged through the snow and when I finally reached the top, my eyes widened and I had to keep my balance from the risk of falling off the mountain.

There, about one hundred feet down, was a huge building, obviously abandoned and run down, reading Walton Labs on the side.

As fast as I could, without stumbling and almost dying, I ran down the mountain and into the cave. Landon looked up and immediately seemed alarmed at me being out of breath.

"What's wrong?" He asked, standing up and walking over to me.

"I..." I started, and then had to catch my breath. "I found it."

.xxX

"Landon! Be careful and shut up! They might have security cameras around here." I said as Landon rolled his eyes.

We were scoping around the building, trying to find some sort of entrance.

"I doubt it. It seems pretty abandoned and if they had any cameras, they would have been in plain sight, considering how smooth the building walls are." He said as we turned another corner.

"Look! There!" I shouted as I pointed to the door in the middle of the wall. We hurried over to it and I peered through the small rectangular window in the door.

I had to hold Landon's arm to keep from fainting at the sight I saw.

There, in two chairs, all tied up, were my parents.

** .xxX**

** So here's the chapter. I really don't like this one. At all. Not one thing about it. But let me know what you thought. **

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to saw hi? Leave a review!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated lately, this chapter has taken a lot of thinking out so it took me a while. **

** Before I start with review responses, I wanted to give shout outs to a couple stories/other things. First, I wanted to give a shout out to Sarcastic Musician, who has a fantastic, hilarious wordpress blog (it's called dontlistentohershescrazy). Go check it out! It's hilarious! She also has a bunch of great Clintasha fanfics. Secondly, I wanted to give a shout out to ****realityalways-getsintheway**** , who has a FANTASTIC Clintasha fanfic called Now or Never. Go check it out, it's amazing. **

** Review responses!**

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** Meg123: * cry * Just kidding. I actually haven't seen Vampire Diaries, but I've heard a lot of good things about it. Maybe I'll start watching it! ;) I actually wanted to ask, but I was wondering why you don't write for fanfiction! You're hilarious and you'd make an AWESOME writer. I'd totally check it out if you did. But anyways, good luck for shirtless guys! Still no luck for me... **

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** Lwolf: I won't, I promise! Thank you so much!**

** OMGthatisabadfic: So I guess I could say I'm offended by this review. But honestly, I'll take it well, because I love criticism, it just makes me a better writer. And also, I've read some of your reviews for other stories, and considering that they were perfectly good stories, and that you don't have any favorite stories and aren't a writer yourself... I'm not going to take it that harshly. And I'm definitely going to continue. So thank you for the review! P.S. Next time you go and review peoples stories with criticism, you might want to not use that username.**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Twelve

I grabbed Landon's arm for support. If someone had a paper bag, now would a good time to give it to me.

"Nadya. You need to breathe. In... out..." Landon turned towards me and breathed over dramatically to show me. It wasn't helping. I couldn't find the air I needed, and when I did, I couldn't breathe evenly.

I stole another look through the window.

My parents, who were supposedly dead, were sitting in two chairs, tied up from head to toe. Now I know my mother has gotten out of situations like this, but this was completely different. Their heads were hung low and they had white cloth wrapped around their mouths. Their hands were tied behind their back, and their bodies were wrapped in the same white cloth to the back of the chair, over and over. Their feet were tied to the legs of the chair and there was no way that they could escape.

"Come on, Nadya. Breathe. In... Out... There you go." Landon coached as I started breathing at a regular pace. Suddenly, I unzipped the hiking backpack and snatched a gun out of the front pocket. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, grabbed my arm as I was about to grasp the door handle.

"I'm going in, obviously. I'm not just going to stand here and watch my parents just sit there. I'm going to go in, kick some ass, and take them back to New York." I answered, pointing the gun at the ground and my left index finger on the trigger. I reached for the door again, but again, Landon moved it away.

"Nadya, we have to think this through. We have to think of a plan. What if that door has an alarm? What if we're ambushed as soon as we step into the building?" He asked, staring me in the eyes.

"Then put on the suit and we'll go in." I put my free hand on my hip.

Landon rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to put on the suit unless I absolutely need to."

"Well then what can you do? You don't shoot and you don't do hand to hand combat." I retorted, snorting.

Landon chuckled, even in the current situation. "Do you really think that I don't know how to fight without the suit?" He asked.

I nodded. "Well duh."

"Please. My dad wouldn't even _think _about giving me a suit until I knew how to fight. I'm a black belt and pretty good with a gun." He answered, chuckling again.

My eyes widened. "How come I didn't know this?" I asked.

"Because we haven't really been friends until now." He said, shifting his gaze awkwardly to the snow covered ground. I guess that was true. Snatching the backpack up again, I shoved it into Landon's arms.

"Pick one. We need to go in now." I said, and he grabbed a handgun the same size as me.

After handling the gun, he took out something from his pocket. I then realized it was his phone.

"Landon. I'm sorry but this really _isn't _the time for you to be on your phone." I scoffed as Landon rolled his eyes.

"I'm scanning to see if the door has an alarm, see?" He said, holding his phone up to the door handle. A blue light appeared like the flash of a camera, and in a few seconds, Landon held it up to his face. "We're clear. Pretty shitty kidnappers if they don't even have an alarm."

I nodded and laughed, mostly trying to distract myself from the lump in my stomach and the shaking of my hands. My parents were less than thirty feet away from me.

"Wait one second." I stopped Landon, and unzipped my sweatshirt and slid off my sweats to reveal my mother's black suit. "Ready." I said, and Landon nodded.

Landon quietly opened the door, and crept in. I followed, both of our guns pointed towards the ground. It was dimly lit, only about one florescent light above my mother and father. There was boxes scattered around, and my parents were the only objects in the middle of the room.

As I shut the door behind me, my mother's head slowly moved up to the door. When our eyes met I nearly cried out in happiness. She looked the same, her eyes glossed with tears. She made a small grunting noise, and my father moaned back in response and turned his head to meet my mother's eyes. She flicked her head towards me, and my father's eyes followed hers.

His eyes widened when he saw me, and he just stared at me in shock for a few minutes. I broke into a grin. I was so excited to see the people that I had thought were _dead_, for almost a month, that I just couldn't help it. I broke the gaze to turn to Landon.

"I'm going to go free them. Stay over there and keep guard." I pointed towards a spot near the door. Landon nodded and crept silently. I shuffled over to my parents and a tear (a happy one) slipped out my eye.

I smiled as soon as I reached them. My mother and father both had tears slipping out of their eyes, a rare sight from two assassins. The first thing I did was slip the mouth covering off from their heads. Even though they had the ability to speak, we stayed in silence for a few moments before I spoke.

"Mommy... Daddy..." I cried, my voice cracking. My parents both grinned. I hadn't called them Mommy or Daddy since I was ten. It felt so good to just address them with anything.

"Nadya... honey, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." My father whispered, as I hugged him tightly, something he couldn't return considering he was still tied up. He kissed my cheek and I then hugged my mother.

"Darling, I'm so sorry. We just couldn't escape. You were the only thing we could think of this whole time. I can't imagine how it must have been for you." She apologized with more tears spilling out of her eyes. I wiped them with my thumb and then wiped mine with the back of my hand.

"T-they said you w-were dead." I whispered as my parents both had hurt faces.

"We're here, kiddo. Alive as ever." My father said, a small smile on his face.

I nodded. "I know. And I'm going to get you out of here." I walked behind them and examined the ropes tying their hands together. I was about to grab the ropes when I heard a yelp from the other side of the room, and a large clatter.

"Landon?" I called out, standing up a bit.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed me from behind and slammed me into the ground, my face sideways on the cold floor.

"Ah, ah, ah. I would stop right there if I were you." A male voice said from above me.

.xxX

I was forced to look up, and the first thing I saw was the Dr. Walton, the bald scientist.

"One, Two, go put Mr. and Mrs. Barton over here away." He barked, and two figures appeared from the shadows. I soon realized it was the Life Model Decoys I had seen at the gala. They dragged my parents to the wall, them yelling the whole way. "Cute nicknames, One and Two, don't you think, Nadya?" He asked.

"How do you know my name?" I hissed through my teeth.

"Oh Nadya. Silly, silly Nadya." He yanked me up onto my knees and held my hands behind my back. "One. Come over here and tie her up." Dr. Walton yelled, and the female LMD came out with rope and tightly tied my hands. "Sabrina, bring Mr. Stark over here please." He said, a little too sweetly.

"Of course, Brother." Sabrina, Dr. Walton's sister, also the one One was modeled after, came out from the shadows, dragging Landon behind her. She forced him onto his knees, his hands also tied behind his back.

Our eyes met for a few seconds and then I was forced to look at Dr. Walton again. I struggled against the rope, trying to untie the rope holding me behind my back.

"Don't even try." Dr. Walton said evilly, and then he struck me with his palm. "Try it again and it'll be a lot worse."

"I'll kill you!" My mother screeched from her chair.

"Don't you _dare _touch her!" Landon screamed, trying to pounce on Dr. Walton.

"Oops. Too late." Dr. Walton smiled, and then walked over to Landon and hit him the the head with the butt of his gun. Landon fell over, unconscious.

"Landon! No!" I yelled, as Dr. Walton grinned. "Landon!" I screamed. No response.

"Oh Nadya." Dr. Walton said. "Two, drag him over there." He demanded, and the male LMD dragged Landon by the feet into the shadows.

"How the hell do you know my name?" I hissed, glaring up at the man.

"Don't you recognize me, Nadya?" He asked, bending down to my level.

I remembered when I was with Phil and I felt like I knew him, and how at the gala I felt the same way.

"Maybe."

"Oh, well you should. Considered you lived here for part of your life." Dr. Walton started pacing around the room.

"What?!" I asked, and I could here my parents starting to curse. He started to laugh manically.

"That's the one thing your parents couldn't keep you safe from. Is from me. I was the one who kidnapped you, _darling._" He said, using my mother's nickname for me.

"Why?!" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Why? You're fairly familiar with my work, yes?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Like I would really want to make LMD's for the good of the public. I wanted an army. A powerful one, but considering how I'm not as strong as I wished I could be, I needed to make myself, or in this case my LMD's, stronger.

"So what's stronger than an assassin? Or in this case, two assassins together? So of course, I kidnapped you. The daughter of two of the most highly trained assassins. But when I tried using your DNA, my LMD's ended up acting like babies, considering that's how old your DNA was. So I thought about waiting until you were older, but that took time, and by the time I perfected the formula for this form of LMD, it was easier to just kidnap your parents. So I did." He laughed evilly again, and then walked over to my parents.

"That's the one thing you couldn't protect. Your daughter. Some parents you are." He yelled at my parents. "Idiots... can't even protect the one you love..." He started, staring my parents straight in the eye. Suddenly, I got an idea, I slipped my arms from underneath my knees and then held my arms in front of my face. Quickly biting the rope loose from my hands, I shook the rope off and stood.

"They're not idiots. They're ten times the person you'll ever be." I hissed, and then I stalked over to Dr. Walton. I turned him around, and then socked him straight in the face. He held his face and I shook my fists to rid the pain.

"Sabrina. Take care of her." He yelled, and then stumbled over the wall.

Sabrina stalked over, and immediately tried to kick me in the stomach, I dodged to the right and retorted by hitting her in the side. She flinched, but then tripped me and I fell to the ground. Pulling something out of her back pocket, I soon realized it was a knife. She tried to stab me, but I pushed her arm away and onto the ground. I then rolled on top of her and pinned her arms on either side of her.

Then, like I had seen Dr. Walton do to Landon, I hit her in the side of the head and she became unconscious.

"One down, one to go." I said under my breath, and hoisting myself up. Dr. Walton was leaning against the wall, holding his most likely broken nose. Not strong enough is right.

I stalked over to him and clenched my fists.

"Nadya, think of all what we could do together. We could rule the world. We could make everyone bow down to us." He said in a pleading tone. I clenched my jaw and walked up to him, his eyes held up in surrender.

"See, but I don't want that. All I want is to go home with my p-" I was interrupted by Dr. Walton slamming me against the wall, pulling a gun out from his pocket.

"Do you really think I'm that weak, Nadya? Please. I'm going to kill you, slowly, and make sure your parents see every single bit of it. It's a shame that they couldn't rescue you, or that Landon kid who obviously has a crush on you." He hissed, smiling and pointing the gun at my temple. I gulped as a drop of sweat made it's way down my forehead.

Dr. Walton put his finger on the trigger when -

"Who said anything about not rescuing?" A voice asked, and we both turned our heads to see the second generation Iron Man, Landon Stark, flying in the gold and red suit. "I would highly suggest putting that down." He said calmly, landing on the ground and walking towards us.

"Listen kid, I'll do this. She'll be dead in seconds and you can't do anything about it." Dr. Walton threatened, pushing the gun deeper into my temple.

Landon held his hands up. "Oh no, please don't!" He protested, and then before Dr. Walton could process what was going on, Landon shot out two beams straight into him. Dr. Walton slumped against the wall and his gun fell to the ground.

Landon lifted his helmet and hurried over to me. "Are you okay?" He asked, examining me in a worried tone.

I nodded, a bit shaky from almost getting shot in the head.

"You don't need to prove it to me. I believe you when you say the whole suit fits into that bracelet." I laughed.

.xxX

**It's not over guys, I swear. Anyways, next chapter will be lots of hurt/comfort reunion fluff, so yay! **

** I think I like this chapter. I say I think because I'm not really good at writing action, so I'm not sure how this chapter turned out. So you guys should tell me what you think! Even if it's criticism!**

** Before I sign off, I just wanted to say thank you. You guys are amazing. Thirty reviews for one chapter, thank you so much. I cannot express in words how much this means to me.**

** So as always, love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Hey guys! I have the weekend pretty free, so I thought I'd update sooner than usual! So here I am! **

** BEFORE REVIEW RESPONSES, I HAVE SOMETHING SO FREAKING IMPORTANT TO SAY. IN THE NEW SHIELD TV SHOW PHIL, YES THAT'S RIGHT, PHIL, IS GOING TO BE IN THE SHOW. GUYS HE'S ALIVE. ALIVE! COULSON LIVES! COULSON LIVES! BEST BIRTHDAY PRESETN EVER! AHHHH! I legit almost cried when I heard this. I was so happy.**

** Review responses!**

** Morgan: Thank you so much! I guess you're psychic! ;)**

** Precious93: Yay! Thank you!**

** MaximumMelody: Ah! I'm sorry! Hopefully soon! ;) Thanks!**

** Sarcastic Musician: Ah I'm glad you could picture it! I wasn't so sure of how it would go. I know! I really hope so! I don't know if you saw my fangirling up there, but if you like Coulson, scroll up just a bit. :P And totally, your stuff deserved some credit! It's really good! Anyways, thanks so much!**

** Yolynnjones: Haha, I love romance too! Fangirl away! Anyways, I love hurt/comfort and all that, so yay! :) Thank you so much!**

** Dancingqueen4Life: Thank you so much! **

** Yesimtherealhulk: Thank you so much!**

** Mellbell12123: Awww yiss! :) Thanks!**

** AlexisRomanoff-Barton: I'm trying! :) Thank you! I'm doing well thanks for asking! What's going on in your life?**

** Maggie: Thank you soooo much!**

** My5tic-Lali: Thank you so much! I doubt mine are any good, but thank you anyways. Action is soooo hard to write.**

** Lwolf: Thank you so much! I'll try to update soon!**

** Guineamania: Aww, thank you! It means a lot! :)**

** Meg123: Haha, thanks! I would totally read anything you wrote and beat up the bad reviewers for you (pow pow)! It's your decision but I'd love to read your writing! Oh are we doing any guy in general? Not just the hot ones? Because actually the same thing happened in my French class; a guy was taking off his hoodie and his shirt came off, but he was skinny and annoying and non attractive so I wasn't the most satisfying thing... haha. Anyways, thank you!**

** RealMcCoy16: Thank you so much! I'll try! :)**

** Bobthepegasus: Again, you made me laugh out loud. Fury is a total donkey, always, but I don't know how I'm going to involve him in the story. I totally wish I was British. They have so many awesome words. Thank you so much! **

** This chapter really isn't that important to the story, but it's where the reunion of Nadya and her parents and everyone, so hopefully you'll like it!**

** Mariposa88: Awww thank you! Right back atcha!**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Thirteen

"I would escape while you can if I were you." I hissed at the LMD's standing on the other side of the room. They took one look at me, Landon in his Iron Man suit, and then at each other and bolted out the door.

As soon as they left I ran to my parents and ripped the ropes off of them. They stood for one moment and just stared at me, and then we rammed into each other into a hug. I was bawling into my dad's shoulder, and my mom was stroking my hair while my father had his arms around both of us.

"I'm going to give you guys some time. I'm going to call SHIELD to alert them on the missing LMD's." Landon said, stepping out of the building, leaving us alone.

"I-I t-thought you w-were dead a-and t-that I would never s-see you a-again." I sobbed, shaking in my parent's arms.

"Shhh, darling. I know. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." My mother cooed into my ear, and I looked up to see her with a tear stained face. This was a big deal. She never cried.

"I'm so sorry, Nadya. I'm so s-" My father started, and then choked on a sob. He pulled me closer and kissed me on the temple.

"Daddy, I'm sorry. Please don't cry." I sniffled, burying my face into his chest. I could feel my father shake his head and kiss the top of my head.

"Listen to me. You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, we should be the ones sorry for leaving you thinking we're dead." He lifted my head from his chest and kissed my forehead. Then he let me go and let me crash into my mother.

"Mommy," I cried as I squeezed my mother in a hug. She stroked my hair and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Nadya. I love you so much." She rocked me back and forth and in a moment my father wrapped his arms around both of us. "You also look fabulous in my cat suit, darling."

I laughed and wiped my eyes. Stepping back from my parents, they both smiled.

"I guess we should have trusted you more with SHIELD missions." My father said. I grinned.

"We should be thanking you. You saved us, Nadya."

I smiled. "I love you guys." I said.

"We love you too." They both smiled and embraced me into a hug.

"Let's go catch up to Landon. I want to go home." I confessed.

"Of course." My father said, and we started to walk to the front of the building. On the way, my father slung his arm around my shoulder and kissed my side of my face. I smiled.

They were finally back.

As soon as we walked out and the cold air of the mountains hit us, I was surprised at the site before my eyes. There, before my parents and I, stood a jet with a familiar logo of SHIELD on the side. "Agent Barton. Agent Romanoff." We all whipped our heads to see a familiar Phil talking to Landon. He walked over to us and shook my parent's hands. "It's good to see you again."

Then he turned to me and looked at me for a few seconds. And then squeezed me in a tight hug. "Nadya, don't you ever do that again. Do you hear me? Everyone back at SHIELD has been worried sick." He scolded. I returned the hug.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Phil." I apologized and then stepped back. My father sent a questioning look.

"You realize, Phil, that if she hadn't come and saved us we wouldn't be here." He said and Phil sighed.

"I'm not saying that I don't want her to go on missions, because I know she can handle herself. I'm saying I don't want her to go on a mission without telling the rest of the team." Phil finished and my parent's mouths dropped open.

"Nadya Aminah Barton. Did you not tell them where you were?" My mother asked, as I looked to the ground to not have to catch her glare.

"Mom, I have a lot to explain. But can we _please _do it later? I just want to go home." I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

"Fine." She answered, and Landon then walked over to us.

"Um, they're about to take off." He told Phil, who nodded. "And Clint, Natasha, it's good to see you." He smiled.

"It's good to see you too. You know, we should be thanking you for helping save us." My father said, and my mother nodded.

"Oh, no." Landon waved it off. "It was all Nadya." I blushed.

"Oh please. I would have been dead if you didn't come in with your suit." I said. I could see my father, mother, Phil, and Landon tense up at the thought.

"You know I would never have let that happen." Landon growled in a serious tone.

"I... I know. But still. It wasn't all me," I said, as Landon eased up just a bit. "Can we... can we please just get onto the plane? I just want to go."

Everyone nodded and I smiled softly.

As we entered the plane, I took a seat in between my mother and father. I stretched my legs onto my mother who rubbed small circles into my calves, and leaned back onto my father who wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

I yawned, considering the events of the day I was pretty tired, and my mother chuckled. "Looks like you're tired, darling. Go ahead and go to sleep. We'll be there before you know it," She smiled and I raised an eyebrow.

"No, no. It's okay. I need to catch up with you guys." I shook my head and tried to sit up.

"We'll have plenty of time to catch up later. Right now you just go to sleep, you deserve it." My father pulled me back down onto his lap. I shrugged and then once again, a yawn overcame me.

Right before I closed my eyes, I looked at Landon. He didn't look normal, he had a look on his face.

Was that jealousy?

.xxX

"Kiddo, wake up," My father shook me awake. I yawned and stretched, my back popping.

"Are we home?" I asked. My mother, who was standing now, nodded.

"We're home." She answered. I grinned.

"Barton? Romanoff?" I heard Phil ask from the front of the jet. He walked back to us and turned to my parents. "We're going to have you two enter first, and then you," He turned to Landon and I. "Nadya and Landon, you'll come in after."

I looked and Landon and then back at Phil, and nodded.

"So just wait here and I'll come get you in a minute." And like that, my parents and Phil left through the door.

"So. We're back." Landon broke the silence that previously filled the jet. I chuckled.

"I guess so."

Silence filled the jet again.

"I just wanted to say again, thank you." I said, giving a small smile.

"Nadya, it was noth-" He started, before I cut him off.

"Don't you dare say it was nothing. You just traveled all the way to _Sweden _with me. You helped save my parents. You even saved me. So no, it wasn't nothing, it was everything. And I will owe you forever." I said. "So thank you."

He just nodded slowly, and then right afterward Phil walked in.

"You could say they're way more than excited to see you." He said, before letting us walk in on our own.

"You ready?" I asked. Landon grinned.

"I should be asking you the same question." He laughed. I smiled as an answer. Walking down the steps coming off the jet, my heart thumped and my hands banged against my thigh out of nervousness.

What if they were mad at me? What if they never talked to me again?

I bit my lip and tried to swallow the lump in my throat. My hands shook like crazy. Suddenly, a hand crept into mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I looked up to Landon in thanks, and he nodded in response.

We walked into the elevator, and pressed the living quarters button. The doors closed and we began our ascent. It could not go any slower.

Ding!

Right as the doors opened Landon let go of my hand and I gulped once more. Staring at us was Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Thor, and Steve.

"Oh thank god." Pepper cried as she jumped out of her seat and embraced Landon in a hug. I could see her eyes were rimmed with red.

"I'm sorry, Mom." I heard Landon whisper as he hugged her back tightly.

"Landon. Never do that again, okay?" I heard Tony say as he walked over from his seat to Landon. "Come here." He said.

Landon pulled away from Pepper and I could see him gulp as he walked over to Tony, expecting a lecture. Surprisingly enough, Tony pulled him into a tight hug. "Landon. Never do that again. We were worried sick." Landon returned the hug, and then Tony and Pepper pulled him into the next room to talk to him more.

I dragged my eyes away from the scene, gulping as Thor, Bruce, and Steve all stared at me. Bruce was the first one to approach me. I was expecting the worst. Him to yell at me, say that he never wanted to speak to me again. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.

"Nadya, oh my god, you're alright." He said, grabbing me and squeezing me. "We were all so worried. You don't even know." I smiled above Bruce's shoulder and returned the hug. He let me go, and then Thor approached me.

"Nadya, we all did not like that." Thor scolded, and I looked down at the ground in embarrassment. The next thing I knew I was nearly squeezed to death in a hug, being swung around above the ground. I grinned and he kissed me on the forehead.

Next up was Steve, he just looked at me for a moment, and didn't say anything. My grin dropped and my hand started shaking again. My eyes filled up with tears. Did Steve want to forgive me? One tear slipped out my eye.

Steve took one more look at me, and at the sight of the tear, his whole face filled with concern. He held his arms out and in a split second I had flung my arms around his neck and was squeezing his tightly. He returned the gesture with a bear hug and then kissed me on the cheek before setting me down.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, his brows furrowing. I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

"I... I just thought you would all be mad at me." I said softly.

"Nads. We could never be mad at you." Bruce answered smiling. He threw an arm around my shoulder. Thor nodded.

"Why would we be angry?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Because I left without telling you." I answered. They all shook their heads at my response.

"We we just worried, that's all." Steve replied.

Then, out of another door, walked in Landon, Pepper, and Tony. Landon walked over to Steve, Thor, and Bruce while I walked towards Pepper and Tony.

"Do you guys forgive me?" I asked, biting my lip. In response, Pepper threw her arms around me.

"Of course we forgive you." She whispered. I smiled into her shoulder and then released her to look at Tony. I approached him slowly, and once in arms length, he grabbed me and embraced me.

"Nads, I love you, but that was one of the stupidest things you could have ever done." He told me. I chuckled into his chest.

"I know. And I'm sorry." I apologized, as he held me away from him, as he and Pepper looked me over for any injuries. "I'm fine, really." I said. Tony gave a skeptical look that I chose to ignore. "Where are my parents?" I asked.

"They're upstairs, showering and whatnot." He answered, and then crossed his arms. "But don't try to change the subject. Why did you do that? Why didn't you just tell us?" He asked. I gulped and then bit my lip.

I never realized that while I was talking to Tony, it had attracted the attention of the rest of the team as well.

"Actually, I'd like to know that too." Bruce cut in, holding up a hand. I sighed. How was I going to explain this?

I stood in thought for a moment, and then finally came up with a proposition. "How's this. You give me and Landon time to get settled, and tonight I promise I'll tell you everything."

The rest of the team raised their eyebrows.

"Everything. Believe me, you'll want to hear this."

** .xxX**

** There's the chapter! It's a filler, not much happened except for the reunion, but anyways, next chapter I'm planning something big. Like most of the readers are going to freak out and die of happiness big. **

** Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. The ending feels sort of rushed, so hopefully you guys like it.**

** Before I sign off, I just wanted to ask, has anyone seen the alternate opening to Iron Man II? Because I just watched it, and died from laughter. It's the one where Pepper tries to give Tony motrin and he then says, "I'm not on my cycle, Pepper!" Oh god. It's hilarious. Go look it up on google. Now. That's your homework assignment for the chapter, okay?**

** Anyways, I hope you like it.**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Hey guys! I'm sick today, so I thought I would write a chapter! So we'll start with the review responses!**

** GUYS! I LIED. I'M GOING TO DO THIS BEFORE REVIEW RESPONSES: Well, now that that caught your attention, I need to tell y'all something. I'm now a beta reader! If you guys ever want help on any story I'd love to help! PM me if you need one! :)**

** Okay, we'll actually do review responses this time.**

** Yolynnjones: Thank you so much! **

** Totter4: I don't know! Maybe! I'll try! I'm planning on making a sequel so maybe I'll put some more relationship moments in! Thanks!**

** RealMcCoy16: Thank you!**

** Morgan: Aww! Thank you! School does stink, but oh well. Most of my classes I spend time thinking up plots for writing, haha. :)**

** My5tic-Lali: Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter! :)**

** Sarcastic Musician: I know! Ah! Clint and Natasha would be fantastic on the show! I loved that post, it was hilarious! Thank you so much!**

** Bobthepegasus: Oh my god! Hilarious! Haha, I love the alternate opening! I hope you'll like this chapter! Thanks!**

** AlexisRomanoff-Barton: Thank you so much! Mine's been doing well. What have you been up to?**

** Lwolf: I guess we'll have to find out! Thank you!**

** Meg123: I was estatic about Phil! I told my Dad (who I make watch all the Marvel films with), and he didn't freak out or anything. I swear I'm adopted, because my reaction was the complete opposite! I haven't seen any shirtless guys either! Brb, going to go cry in a corner. Thank you! Oh and by the way, I'm now a beta reader, so if you ever wanted someone to read your work before you think about publishing it, you can totally PM me your email and I would love to help!**

** Bacon ninja1209: Thank you so much! **

** Mellbell12123: Haha, thank you! **

** Maggie: Aww, thank you so much! **

** Mariposa88: Aww, thank you! Haha, I'm glad you like Landon. We'll just have to see what happens this chapter!**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Fourteen

After taking a long shower to relieve my muscles, I walked into my room with a towel covering my body to pick something out to wear. I was surprised to see everything much cleaner than it usually is. I mean really, nothing on the floor, no clothes in the hamper, nothing.

I shrugged and padded over to my dresser, yanking open the drawer that held my sweats and tee shirts. Pulling out a pair of gray sweatpants and my, erm, undergarments, I pulled the second tee shirt in the stack. Well apparently I pulled it out too hard, and the purple shirt that lay on top of it fell off and onto the ground.

I groaned and leaned down to pick it up off the ground. I opened the shirt up and was surprised to see it was the same 'My dad is Hawkeye!' shirt of my dad's that Landon had brought me a while back. I bit my lip and turned to my bed, where my parents' quilt lay, and the pink pillowcase I bought my mother when she was younger.

I knew what I had to do. I quickly pulled all my clothes on and then packed the quilt, tee shirts (I had found more in my drawer) of my father's, and the pink pillowcase and stuffed them underneath my left arm. I opened the door to the hallway and walked down to my parents' room.

When I finally reached their door, I knocked quietly. "Come in," I heard my father say from the other side of the wall. I turned the knob and walked in to see my father brushing his teeth and my mother tying up her tennis shoes on the bed. "Nat? Where's the hell is our quilt? I couldn't find it earlier."

"I was actually wondering the same thing, and my pillowcase is gone as well," My mother looked around the bed, and then at my father. I cleared my throat. "Oh, Nadya darling. I didn't see you there."

My father kissed my on the forehead. "Hey kiddo." Then he went in the bathroom to return his toothbrush.

"So... about your pillowcase and quilt. Surprise!" I laughed softly, kind of scared at their reaction. Would they think it's stupid I used their stuff? Shit.

My mother raised an eyebrow and walked over to me. "Nadya, why did you have have our things?" My eyes widened at her question.

"Um... no reason?" I set down their things onto their bed, and then swiftly turned to leave the room.

"Nadya, wait." I turned back and bit my lip.

"Why did you have our stuff?" She asked again, and this time my father came in from the bathroom.

I sighed and twisted my hands together. "Because it reminded me of you guys," I finally blurted out. My parents looked at each other and then back at me. My father quirked an eyebrow. "Please don't be mad, I just missed you guys a lot and -"

I was cut off by the sound of my father laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest defensively.

My father shook his head and approached me. "We may be assassins, but we wouldn't be mad at you for missing us. Honestly, Nadya. It's fine. We don't care." He embraced me once more, and I could see my mother smile from out of the corner of my eye. I relaxed into his hug. After thinking that my parents were dead, hugging them was one thing I wouldn't get tired of.

"Well, anyways. There's your stuff. Should we get going to dinner?" I asked, pulling away. My parents nodded and we exited their room to go meet the rest of the team.

.xxX

"Spill."

That was the first thing I heard when I sat down at the table from Tony, surrounded by others. I gulped.

"Well... where do you want me to start?" I asked, unfolding the napkin that sat in front of my and placing it onto my lap. Everyone looked around and then Tony spoke again.

"I guess from the time when you decided to leave without telling us."

I sighed and thought of what to start with. "So I had finally gotten the courage to ask Fury how you two had died," I started, shifting my position. This was going to be harder to explain than I thought. "And he refused. So to get my mind off things, Landon and I started goofing off and pulling pranks." Bruce, Steve, and Thor all groaned. Landon and I gave a small chuckle.

"Anyways, later that night when I fell asleep, and then Landon woke me up and told me that Fury was gone. So... I kind of snuck into his office and read your files, where you weren't listed as 'killed in action', you were listed as 'missing in action'. So I took a few pictures, and went back to my room to examine them." I directed towards my parents. "But then on my way back, Fury talked to me. He knew that I went into his office and read the file, and then he threatened me. He told me that if I told the rest of the team, that he would wipe me off everything, and I would never see you again. He said he would make sure that I would never get a job, get into college, anything.

"So of course, I didn't want that, but of course I wanted to see you guys again, so I looked at the photos more and found that you guys were in Sweden. I decided I was going to go looking for you, but then Landon here found out and decided to come with me." I could see Landon blush from out of the corner of my eye and held in the urge to smile.

"We flew out to Sweden, and when we were there Landon found a gala, being run by the guy who Uncle Phil was teaching me about in class. When I was there, he had a presentation for his LMDs and after wards so I went and saw talked to them. And they were exactly like you, so I knew that there had to be some sort of connection.

"So Landon and I found the laboratory..." Then I told them the rest of the story, how Dr. Walton's plans with kidnapping me failed, how he made LMDs of my parents, and how Landon saved me.

After I had finished, everyone sat in thought for a moment, processing what had happened. Finally, Bruce spoke up.

"I think what everyone wants to know, is why Fury would keep Clint and Natasha's fate a secret from the rest of us, and why is was that important to keep it hidden." He suggested, folding his arms in front of himself on the dining room table.

I nodded. "I'd really like to know that too," My mother hissed, clenching her jaw as my father put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"No. You tell him that I said so and that if he doesn't he'll be shipped off to another mission in Antarctica!" We all whipped our heads to the doors to see an angry Fury, yelling into the phone. He barked a few things that no one's grandmother would like to hear, and then flipped it shut and shoved it into his pocket.

"Hey! Fury!" I yelled, and bolted up out of my seat. Landon held onto my arm to keep me from nearly attacking him.

"Barton. I see you found your parents. I now know what I need to do," Fury said, turning in the other direction. My fists clenched.

"Hey! For your information, she found us on her own, she didn't ask for our help. Thanks to you she could have died, by the way. There's no reason for you to 'wipe her off SHIELD's radar'." Tony snarled. Fury rolled his eye.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to know why you fucking lied to my daughter about us being dead!" My mother yelled. Everyone else agreed.

"That is disclosed information, Romanoff."

"Bullshit. Tell me now, or else you won't want to know what I'll do," My mother growled.

"Fine. If you must know, we knew perfectly well of your kidnapping. For a good reason though. Dr. Walton was one of the smartest, yet also crazy, scientists that SHIELD has ever found. His studies were the ones that we based Agent Coulson's LMD off of. But after we had found out that he kidnapped Barton over here, SHIELD couldn't be situated with him anymore. So when Romanoff and Barton were kidnapped, we were going to keep them there for a while because we needed to figure out what the next plans were for the LMD's. We were perfectly in control of the situation." Fury explained.

I scoffed. "Really? Then why couldn't we tell the team? Why couldn't SHIELD have just interrogated Dr. Walton instead of letting my parents stay kidnapped? Why the fuck did you not tell me that they weren't dead?!" I questioned.

Fury smiled evilly. "That is disclosed, Barton. Goodbye." And before I could object, he left and walked out the door.

I clenched my jaw. I have never been angrier at SHIELD ever. They had the whole situation 'under control', yet they didn't go and save them?

"I'm going to bed," I told my parents before giving them each a hug. "I just need to think things over."

They nodded and then let me walk off in the other direction, towards my room.

.xxX

_The gun was digging into my head, as sweat poured down from my forehead. Dr. Walton grinned evilly beside me._

_ I was back in the laboratory, my parents tied up in chairs on an opposite wall. Where was Landon? He was supposed to show up by now._

_ "Oh, are you worrying about your little friend?" Dr. Walton asked, still grinning. _

_ "Nadya!" I strained my eyes to see Landon running towards me. Where was his suit? He could get hurt! "Nadya don't move! I'll be there -" _

_ He was cut off by a loud bang, and then he fell to the ground. "No!" I screamed. Landon was dead. I could feel my eyes becoming blurrier._

_ "Do you really think I would kill you? What would I want to do with you, when I have two assassins and a miniature Tony Stark?" Dr. Walton asked. "Please. You're the last thing I would want. Instead, I'm just going to make you suffer and watch me do this." _

_ There were two loud bangs and I looked over into the direction of my parents. They were limp in their chairs. _

_ "No!" I screamed. "No!"_

"Nadya! Nadya, honey, wake up!" I bolted upright in bed to see my parents hovering over me.

"Nadya, what's wrong?" My mother asked, sitting down next to me and flipping on the light on my bedside table.

My eyes blurred and I tried to explain. "I was back and you and Landon were, and then he-he-" I started, and then slumped into my mother's shoulder in defeat, letting tears fall out of the corners of my eyes.

"Shh, Nadya. It was just a dream, your okay, were okay," My father cooed while sitting next to my mother and patting me on my hand.

"Nadya? Are you okay? I heard screaming and – oh." We all looked up to see Landon burst into the room, clad in his pajamas, his face frantic.

My father looked up and gave a small smile as I clutched onto my mother. "We got this one Landon."

Landon nodded, and gave one more look to me, crying onto my mother, and then closed the door behind him.

.xxX

The next few days seemed to fall back into my normal schedule. Of course for a few days I stayed with my parents, catching up and still trying to accept all that had happened.

But then, I started going back to class with Phil. Landon also spent the first few days trying to readjust, and then went back to chemical science with Bruce.

So after I had finished class with Phil, I tried to catch up with Landon, as we hadn't spoken in a few days.

"Landon!" I called, running up to him and adjusting the backpack slung on my shoulder.

He smiled softly and stopped for me to catch up. "What's up?" He asked.

I shifted my position slightly. "Nothing really. I just wanted to know if you wanted to do our math equations together. We haven't hung out in a while." I suggested.

He shrugged. "I don't have any, I finished all in class. Plus, I have a lot of individual homework from Bruce."

"Oh." I said. "That's fine. We'll just catch up later, I guess."

Landon nodded and then walked off.

.xxX

That wasn't the first time he blew me off in the past few days. I tried to ask him if he wanted to train for a while, go to the gym, but he said he had to help his dad with the suit.

Then I asked if he wanted to go get lunch, go over the mission and complain about Fury. But again, he refused. He said he had to go help his mom organize papers. And then he gave me one weird look, swallowed heavily, and walked off.

I was done with it. I had thought we had become friends, you know with almost dying and all, but apparently not anymore. So one night, after sitting in my bed and twisting around in the sheets, I bolted out of my bed and stalked off towards Landon's room.

Suprisingly, I saw him come out of his room right as I reached his door.

"Hey," I said. "I need to talk to you."

"So do I," He replied, gulping. He looked nervous.

"Why are you avoiding me?" I finally blurted out. Landon's eyes widened and he avoided my gaze.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, still not looking me in the eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about Landon. I keep trying to talk to you and meet up but you act like you don't like me. Like you don't want to talk to me. What's up with that?" I asked. He gulped once more and then ran a hand through his hair.

I waited a moment for a response. When I saw that he didn't want to respond, I sighed and crossed my arms.

"Fine. I guess that's my answer." I turned around and then a hand grasped my wrist.

"Wait, Nadya... dammit." He started.

"What?" I asked. He sighed and clenched his fists.

"I've been avoiding you because... dammit." He hissed. "Why is this so hard?" He asked.

"What? What is so hard that you've been avoiding me this entire time, Landon?"

He sighed and then finally replied something that I never thought I would hear.

"I like you."

** .xxX**

** Okay guys. I hate this ending so much. I'm sorry it's rushed, but I wanted it to go out tonight so it's terrible. I'll probably go back and rewrite the whole ending, but anyways. Until next time.**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, it's testing week in my state and I've been super busy and stressed, pretty much all I do when I get home is go and sleep! So this fine Saturday morning I'm caffeinated and am ready to go! So anyways, here's the update you've been waiting for. Oh and by the way guys, I just wanted to thank all of my dedicated reviewers. I've been doing so many review responses to some of you that my computer recognizes your pen names! :)**

** Review responses!**

** Sarcastic Musician: Aww, thanks! I like writing with the Avengers as a family, haha. I'd be so excited if they were in it! They're just, gah! Adorable!**

** RealMcCoy16: Thank you! I'm sorry you had to wait for the update!**

** Yolynnjones: Thank you so much! I was really worried about the ending, so I'm glad at least one person liked it!**

** AlexisRomanoff-Barton: Thank you so much! School for me too, testing week for all of us. You? Sorry you had to wait for the update!**

** Mellbell12123: Haha, thank you!**

** Morgan: Sorry you had to wait! Thanks!**

** Maggie: Thank you so much!**

** Guest: Haha, good idea but I don't think that will happen. But that's a really good theory! Thanks!**

** DiscordChick: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story a lot! I hope you'll like this chapter too!**

** AvengerGal: I guess we'll have to find out! I'm glad you like the chapter! Thank you!**

** Meg123: Haha, this is going to be a lonnnng response. Haha, I know. I feel like I dragged the whole story out a little too long, but anyways. I started thinking about mashup names too, and I think I figured one out. How about Ladya? Haha, I don't know. Yeah, they are kind of hard to mash up. No shirtless guys for me either. And yes! I have seen the trailer! I about died! Have you seen that weird bunny in the background of the explosion scene? There's a lot of weird theories going around, like Pepper miscarried like she did in the comics. (*cries*) Thanks!**

** Precious93: Haha, yes, the feels! Or as Clark Gregg says, the 'pheels'. Thank you!**

** Bobthepegasus: Haha, yes, it was a little rushed. And I definitely could have found a better way to say 'I like you', but oh well. I think I'm going to go and have a huge edit after I finish, so I'll probably find a better way to say it, haha! Four girls in PE yelling? That actually sounds a lot like my friends and I... Fangirl squeals? That's my favorite kind! (okay that sounds creepy but I don't mean it that way).Thanks!**

** Bacon Ninja1209: Thank you! I KNOW THE IRON MAN TRAILER! AH! It looks so good! I can't wait until April! :( Still love your pen name, by the way.**

** Mariposa88: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like Landon!**

** NEW QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER AT THE ENDING BOTTOM NOTE!**

** Onwards!**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Fifteen

"I like you."

My eyes widened at the words that just came out of his mouth.

"W-what?" I asked, my mouth gaping slightly.

"I like you, Nadya," He repeated, looking down at his feet with a slight blush. I furrowed my brows.

Landon liked... me?

"Me?" I squeaked out. My lungs felt like they were being constricted, and my heart was beating faster than usual.

Landon stared at me with a 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "No. Bill Clinton. Yes of course you."

I smiled at his comment and then went back to the subject. "But... why me?" I asked.

Landon smiled softly. "Why you? Nadya, who _wouldn't _fall for you?"

I scoffed. "Um, everyone. I'm not exactly the best person to fall for."

It was Landon's time to scoff. "Nadya, you're amazing. You're talented, I mean who else is a black belt in karate our age? You're funny, kind, feisty, and not to mention gorgeous. Nadya, everyone who sees you automatically likes you." I blushed when he finished speaking.

"I don't think that's all true," I said, sighing.

"But see, it is, Nadya," Landon looked down at his feet. We did the same, and we stood like that for a minute.

"When did this happen?" I asked finally, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"What, me liking you?" Landon asked. I nodded. "I guess, since a couple of years ago. I don't know when it exactly happened. But when it did, I tried to deny it for a while, and after I realized I did like you... I guess I just acted like an asshole because I worried that you would find out.

"And believe me, I like seeing your parents home, because they're like second parents to me like how my parents are to you. But when they weren't here I got to comfort you and hang out with you, like I usually wouldn't. And I know that it won't be the same now that they're here. Like a couple nights ago when you had that nightmare, and your parents came in before me, I knew I was a goner. I just wasn't needed anymore.

"So I'm telling you this right now, but in no way do I expect it back, and even thought that sucks, I'll just have to accept it. I'm sorry for wasting your time." And like that, he walked away, leaving me with my mouth hung open and my eyes glazed over with tears.

Landon liked me? Who would like me? I'm completely unstable, I mean look at me. I cry all the time. I'm definitely not gorgeous. _Maybe _pretty. But definitely not gorgeous.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I needed to go think things through.

.xxX

I sighed and tossed in my bed for the millionth time.

Landon liked me. I mean, he actually liked me. The only time I ever thought I was liked was the one time a guy asked me out, and then he ended up standing me up. I guess I never really thought much about my future love wise. I guess I always just expected to meet someone in college, fall in love and that's it. I never had the whole thing planned out like some girls have since they were twelve. I just put everything into SHIELD.

I pulled the sheets up and over my shoulder and turned to my side. Looking over to my desk, I smiled when I saw the fluffy tutu laying on top.

I bit my lip. I had a lot of things to think about.

One of the most important things was... did I like Landon back?

.xxX

"X plus nine is less than or equal to the square root of ninety six plus thirteen to the power of eight minus – goddammit stomach! Shut up!" That was me.

I was currently sitting on my bed with my math textbook and notebook sprawled in front of me. Of course, I wasn't paying that much attention considering my stomach was growling every five seconds.

"Why not go get something to eat?" You might ask. Well the answer to that is simple.

I'm a coward and I'm avoiding Landon today.

I know, I know. You should have thought this through and confronted him. But I just couldn't. What if he's mad at me? Would this even work? I mean what if -

My stomach growling interrupted my thoughts. I sighed and ran a hand through my red locks. Operation: Go get food from the kitchen has commenced.

I stood and slipped through the doors, taking a right instead of my usual left to go to the kitchen. If I went right I would pass the gym, and considering it's around lunch time, not that many people will be there.

I walked past a few offices, one of which had an intern getting yelled at Maria Hill (something about not getting her coffee right or something. He looked scared out of his mind), and Steve's room. I approached the elevator, which was right next to the gym. Stabbing the button with my index finger, I looked through the window in the gym door.

There was Landon, beating the shit out of a punching bag. He looked like a wreck, with dark circles under his eyes, and a pained expression, he looked like me when I hadn't slept in a long time. I gulped and guilt washed over me. Shit. Did I make him feel like this?

Suddenly, the punching stopped and he looked over at the door. My eyes widened when we made eye contact. I bit my bottom lip as he stared at me with a hurt look, then shook his head and went back to the punching bag, only this time hitting it harder. I looked away as the elevator door opened, my bottom lip quivering. Instead of hitting the third floor button, I hit a completely different one instead.

.xxX

After knocking on the door, I heard a small "Come in." I turned the knob to see my mother sitting on her bed, reading something that looked like a SHIELD guide book.

"Mom?" I asked, as she looked over to me. "Can I talk to you?" My voice wavered on the last part, and her brows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" She asked, standing up and approaching me slowly.

"Mom... I just don't know what to do!" I cried, and I sat myself down on the end of her bed and buried my face in my hands. See? Why would Landon like me? I'm unstable as hell. I can barely go a day without bursting into tears.

"Nadya, Honey, what's wrong?" My mother asked, sitting down next to me and wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. I leaned my head down on her shoulder as tears ran down my face. "Shh. It's okay," She comforted, rocking my slightly from side to side. A few minutes later, she lifted my face from her shoulder and wiped away my tears with her calloused thumbs. "Darling, what's wrong?"

I sniffled. "I know I would usually talk to Pepper about this... but I just really needed to talk to you," I answered, as my mother raised a brow.

"Well you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I'm your mother." She smiled and I did the same. "Now what's wrong?"

I gulped and bit my lip. How was I going to start this? Just flat out say what Landon told me?

Luckily, the next thing my mother said took care of it for me. "It's a boy."

My eyes widened at her comment, and after looking at her she chuckled softly. "I may not be the girliest person, but I definitely can tell." I smiled shyly and nodded. "Well, who is it?" She asked.

I looked down at my lap. "Landon." I said it shyly, afraid of her reaction. After not hearing a gasp or a groan, I looked over to her to see her grinning.

"I had my suspicions," My mother said slyly. I blushed.

"It's just... he told me he liked me and I just..." I trailed off and then groaned. This is so hard to explain.

"You don't know if you like him," She finished for me, crossing her legs and arms. I nodded in response.

"I mean, I liked hanging out with him and God – he came all the way to Sweden with me. And when he told me I didn't say anything back, and I felt like the biggest asshole on Earth. Then I just saw him and I felt so bad when I saw he looked like a wreck and – ugh!" I rambled, and then finally flopped back on my mother's bed. I laid my arm across my face and sighed.

My mother started to laugh. I propped up on my elbows and glared. "Mom. This isn't funny."

She shook her head and stopped. "I'm not laughing at the situation, darling. I'm laughing at the fact that you're so oblivious to the fact that you like him." I raised my brow at her comment. She rolled her eyes and continued. "Nadya. If you didn't like Landon, you would not be coming here to me crying about how you feel bad about being an asshole. If you didn't like him, you probably wouldn't care about he was a wreck. Just face it, Nadya. You like him back."

I continued to stare at my mother, in which she just shrugged. "Think about it, Nadya." Then she kissed my forehead and walked to the door. "You'll make the right decision."

After she walked out the door I flopped back down on her bed.

Do I really like Landon? Would I care that much about someone if I didn't like them?

I sighed and rubbed my temples. Then a minute later, I slapped a hand to my forehead. "Goddammit, Nadya. You're an idiot." I realized something.

I liked Landon back.

.xxX

I paced back and forth in my room. It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and I had been thinking of ideas for the past hour. What about, you ask?

How to tell Landon I like him. I know what you're thinking (God, I'm just a mind reader, aren't I?), why don't you just flat out tell him? Because I wanted this to be special. As cliche as this sounds, I really wanted to make up for the fact that I hadn't told him sooner and that I made him stressed. I felt terrible.

God dang. Why was this so hard? Come on, brain. Be creative. I walked over to my desk, hoping that I'd find something there, like a pen, a crayon, _something_, that would spark an idea.

Then I saw it and grinned. Oh yes, I had found my idea.

.xxX

"Hey! Pepper!" I called out to the strawberry blonde a few paces ahead. She turned around with a smile.

"Hello, Nadya," She greeted, walking towards me. "Can I help you with anything?" She asked.

"Yes, actually you can. Would you mind telling Landon to go to the subway, near the musicians, in around an hour for me?" I asked, as Pepper raised a brow.

"Can I ask why?" She questioned, tilting her head slightly. I smiled.

"Hopefully you'll find out, but right now I just need this to be between you and me. Just please don't tell him I told him to be at the subway," I pleaded, as Pepper thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Okay..." She hesitated. I gave her a quick hug and then started to walk in the other direction.

"Thanks, Pepper!"

.xxX

An hour later I was shoving through the subway entrance of New York City, crowded with men and women in business suits and talking on bluetooths. I was dressed in a baseball cap and sunglasses, making the already darkened station even darker. Saying no thank you to a few of the 'Jesus Christ is my savior packets being shoved my way, I clutched my bag closer to my body and looked out for the corner flooded with musicians with microphones.

Finally, I heard the familiar noise of a guitar and some song of Adele in my ears. I looked and say a man, around thirty or so, singing and playing acoustic guitar into a microphone with a sound system in the back. Perfect.

A few minutes passed and I looked around for Landon's tall, dark head. Finally, I found him. He was on the phone, plugging the opposite ear with a finger to hear.

"Yes, Mom. I'm here. Will you tell me what for? No? Fine. Yes... I'll stay here. Fine. Bye." After he finished his conversation, he shoved his phone into his pocket and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He still had dark circles underneath his eyes and he looked terrible.

I gulped and tugged the baseball cap down farther to make sure he wouldn't notice me. After the man finished his song and the crowd of people clapped, I knew it was time to start the plan.

I opened the bag and grabbed the tutu, and shoved it on over my jeans. After plopping down the bag on the ground, I went up to the man with the microphone. A few snickers emerged from the crowd when they saw what I was wearing.

Shit. This is so embarrassing.

"Hi," I started, greeting the man and pulling something out from my pocket.

"Um, hello," He answered, obviously confused about being approached by an eighteen year old in a tutu.

"Hi. Here's twenty bucks if I can use your microphone for just a minute." I held out the money, and the guy raised his brow.

"Sure." He took the money and stuffed it in his pocket, gesturing for me to use the now empty microphone. I nodded in thanks.

When I approached, I saw some people with confused looks, and some still laughing from what I was wearing. I shook it off and removed my baseball cap and glasses. Looking over at Landon, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped.

"Hi, can I get everyone's attention?" I asked into the microphone, clearing my throat. I looked down and then at Landon. "Landon, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner and being an asshole." He raised a brow and I bit my lip for a minute and then continued. "Landon Phillip Stark, I like you too."

A few people clapped and I looked over to see Landon with a blank look on his face.

I bit my lip. Did he not like me back? Oh God. I just made a fool out of myself and now I have to do the walk of shame back to my bag.

I shimmied out of the tutu and then timidly walked back to the bag on the ground. Tears pricked my eyes and I could feel a dozen pairs of eyes watching my every move.

I bent down to the ground to pick up my bag, and slung it on my shoulder. I could feel a tear in the corner of my eye ready to fall. Landon didn't like me anymore.

When I started to walk away, I felt someone grab my wrist. I turned around slowly to meet the man of the hour, Landon. I gulped when he stared into my eyes. Shit. He was going to yell at me about how I embarrassed him and how he doesn't like me anymore.

He just stared at me for a moment, making the moment drag on longer. The man with the guitar started playing again, and luckily, everyone else's attention went back to him.

Then suddenly, his hands went from my wrist to my face, cupping my cheeks. And then, he leaned down and kissed me. I was tense at first, surprised at the action, and then I melted into it. I weaved my arms around his neck, and stood on my tip toes to meet him half way. I grinned against his lips and I could feel him do the same. It was perfect. As for the cliche factor, it was off the scale. I could feel the fireworks, and everything seemed to work perfectly. Our mouths moved in sync and not for one second did I doubt it.

When we broke away, I was smiling like an idiot, and so was Landon. I could hear clapping, and at first I thought it was for the man with the guitar, and then I realized everyone was watching us and clapping for _us. _

That just made me blush and bury my face in Landon's chest. He smelled good, like laundry detergent and cologne. He laughed and kissed my forehead.

"You aren't mad at me?" I asked, looking up at him. He shook his head and smiled.

"Of course not. Why didn't you tell me sooner? Would have saved you lot of trouble," He said, snaking his arms around my waist and pulling me close.

"I know. I just wanted it to be special," I laughed as Landon grinned.

"That was special all right," He snickered.

"Oh shut up," I chuckled and swatted his chest. He laughed harder and pulled me closer. We stood like that for a minute, me tucked against his chest with his chin on the top of my head. Then he broke the silence.

"You realize that I still get to use the coupon for embarrassing you in public right? Because you did this all on your own," He looked down and beamed.

I laughed. "That's okay. This was worth it."

Oh yes. This was definitely worth it.

And then for the second time that day, I tugged Landon down to meet my lips for my new favorite activity.

** .xxX**

** THIS IS **_**NOT **_**THE LAST CHAPTER. THERE WILL BE ANOTHER. **

**Anyways, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! XD I really liked writing it, and I hope you like reading it!**

** I haven't done one of these in a while, but here's the question of the chapter! Everyone has ships, right? Like Clintasha, Pepperony... things like that. Well, Clintasha and Pepperony are my favorites, so what are yours? And what's your least favorite? Mine is probably Thorki, because it's just weird... I mean, adopted or not, they're **_**brothers **_**for Christ's sake... that's just weird.**

** Now that I'm finished... I should probably get a start on the huge stack of homework my teacher assigned... **

** Oh, by the way, I changed the dates on when they were born. If they were born after the battle of New York, the rest of the team would just be too... old.**

** Love it? Hate it? Just want to say hi? Leave a review!**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Hey guys! This is a really bittersweet moment for me. Really. It's so hard to write this chapter, because it feels AMAZING to actually finish a story, but at the same time, I'm close to crying because this has been such and amazing experience. **

** I just want to thank everyone. Really. From the bottom of my heart, as cheesy as it sounds, but it's true. Every time someone reviewed, favorited, or followed, it made my day. And it was awesome to see everyone's personality coming through in their reviews. It was awesome to get to know you. Really, and thank you so much.**

** When I started this story, I didn't know if anything would actually happen. Whether it would get reviews or not, or whether it would be liked. I had no idea that I would end this story with over two hundred reviews. Thank you guys so much.**

** I have a big announcement to make, I will be making a sequel, that I will release in a few days. I'll add a chapter saying when it's out when I do end up releasing it so you can all see it.**

** For the last time of this story, review responses!**

** Bacon Ninja1209: Haha, I feel the same way with all the ships you listed! Thanks so much for suggesting your sister, we started chatting and you too are a lot alike (whether you want to hear that or not XD)! Thank you!**

** Sarcastic Musician: Yay! I'm glad you like him! Me too, with the ships. Once I have a ship, I can't bare to split it up! Thanks!**

** My5tic-Lali: Yay for Clintasha! I agree with the Natasha and Loki... quite weird. Thank you!**

** Mellbell12123: Haha, yay for kissing! Loki with horses?! XD Thanks!**

** Lollypops101: Me too! Thanks much!**

** Meg123: Me too! Haha, Landon's sister? XD Steve and Natasha are just... weird. I don't like it either. No shirtless guys for me either. :( I haven't seen that show... maybe I'll pick it up! I've been looking for some good shows to watch! What's it about? Haha, love you too (in the least creepiest way possible)! I know! I feel like I dragged it on just a little too long, but oh well. Thank you!**

** Precious93: I'm glad you're glad! Thanks!**

** Bookworm1517: Haha, it's been done before? Jk. Same for the least favorite ones. * shudders along * Thanks much!**

** AlexisRomanoff-Barton: Yeah, school sucks. We can all agree on that! XD Thank you so much!**

** Mycatsaninja47: So here we start. Oh my god you're hilarious! And it's awesome chatting with you, by the way. I'll try to update quickly! She's not a LMD by the way ;) Don't worry! I laugh every time you review, you're hilarious! You and your sister both! Thank you for the (many) reviews!**

** PJ-NCIS-TF-26: Thank you so much!**

** Maggie: Thank you! I like to read the same sort of stuff! **

** Morgan: Haha, I've done that before! I've always had a hard time with Steggy, because it was hard for me to accept that they didn't end up together, and were only together in one movie. :( Anyways, it goes the same way for the least favorite ships. Quite weird. Thank you!**

** Redraven274: I love them too! Thank you!**

** Jedigirl267: Aww, thank you so much! I'm glad you like my writing! It means a lot!**

** Littlenaoki: Thank you! I love Clintasha!**

** Beliber Twihard: Thank you so much! I most definitely will!**

** AvengerGal: Haha! Thank you!**

** Hanstrantdgw: Thank you so much. That means SO much to me. I loved writing the pranks part! Thank you!**

** Bobthepegasus: Who couldn't be obsessed with Clint? I've always been! ;) Test tomorrow? I hope you did well! Thank you!**

** ADHD Gal: Awesome! I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story! Thank you!**

** Discordchick: Me too! I can't stand them with anyone else! Thanks much!**

** ONWARDS:**

** .xxX**

The New Generation

Chapter Sixteen

"Oh, hell no."

That was what I said when Landon popped in 'Children of the Corn' into the DVD player. He grinned and sat down at the end of the couch.

We were in Landon's room, which he had installed a flat screen TV, and had a red and gold loveseat perched before it.

"Why, are you scared?" He teased, setting down my legs onto his lap and resting his hands on them. I scoffed.

"Please. I'm not scared. It's the _stupidest _horror movie ever." Landon laughed and grabbed the remote sitting on the armchair. Hitting play, he shoved my feet off of his lap.

I frowned. "Hey," I protested, trying to put them up again. He shoved them off again, and held out his arm, opening up his side to me.

"I don't want your feet, dummy. I want you," Landon said. I blushed and sat up. "Um, I'm not a disease," Landon chuckled, and grabbed my side and leaned me against him. I sighed and relaxed, grabbing his arm that lay over my shoulder.

It had been a month since we kissed on the subway, and everyday we had hung out, whether it was doing our homework, or eating dinner, or like today, watching movies.

I fixed my eyes on the screen, trying to pay attention, but it was kind of hard with the terrible plot line. I burst into laughter when the killing scenes started. "This is the worst movie ever!" I continued to laugh, and Landon chuckled along.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty bad." He readjusted his position, so that now a pillow lay on his lap, and my head rested on top of it. I smiled as I turned back to the TV, Landon playing with my red locks. After about ten minutes of watching kids slash adults with knives, Landon spoke up.

"So, I was thinking," He started, and I looked up at him with a teasing look.

"You were thinking? That's a first," I interrupted. He rolled his eyes with a goofy grin.

"Yes, me, thinking. And I'd like to say about what, if you'll let me this time," He said, half joking, half serious. I nodded for him to continue. He cleared his throat, and shifted around, gulping. "So I was wondering..." He trailed off, and I raised an eyebrow. "If you'd like to make this official. You know, if you'd be my girlfriend?"

I just stared at him, my eyebrow still raised. Landon shifted uncomfortably again, and then eventually looked at me with a little smile.

"This is the time when you're supposed to say 'Of course, Landon! I've been waiting for you to ask me since the moment I met you!'" He teased, running a hand through his hair. I laughed and then sat up and threw my arms around his neck, pressing my lips to his.

Pulling away, I laughed again. "I can't really say since the moment I met you, but I sure as hell did want you to for a while," I chuckled, sitting on my knees and facing him. Landon grinned and kissed my cheek.

"So, girlfriend, would you like to continue this movie?" He asked, hitting pause and setting the remote back onto the arm rest.

I rolled my eyes. "No, boyfriend, I would not." I tried not to grin saying boyfriend.

Landon Stark is my _boyfriend_.

"Then what would you like to do then?" Landon asked, standing up and stretching, his back cracking a few times. That caused me to crack my knuckles and my back. Stupid chain reaction, it's like yawning. Once someone starts, another person starts.

"Um, I don't know." I pulled my legs out from under me. Landon shrugged and went over to his mini fridge (why was his room so much cooler than mine?), and pulled out two bottles of water, tossing one to me.

I uncapped it, and was about say something when I remembered something. "Oh shit!" I cursed, as Landon raised his brows.

"What?" He asked, and took a sip of water. I bit my lip.

"If we're going to make this official, we're going to have to tell the team." As soon as I finished, Landon spit out his water like a fountain. I looked at him in disgust.

"Sorry, it's just, oh God. What are they going to think?" He asked, rubbing a hand over his face.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Are you sure you want to make it official then?" I asked quietly, almost afraid that he would say 'no'.

Landon's eyes widened and he rushed over to me. "No, I'm positive. I want to make it official, Nadya, I do," He reassured, laying his hand over mine. I grinned and leaned over to give him a quick peck on the lips.

Landon smiled and sat beside me. "So how do you want to do this?" I asked. Landon thought for a moment, and then perked up.

"Hey, we have that dinner all together tonight, right? Why don't we just tell them then?" He suggested, looking over to me to see what I think. I nodded.

"Sounds good to me." We sat in silence for a few moments, and then JARVIS' voice came over the air.

_"Mr. Stark, Miss Barton, your parents would like to see you in their rooms now." _

I looked over to Landon. "I wonder what they want... I guess I'll catch up to you later." I kissed his cheek, and with a quick wave, we both walked off to our parents' rooms.

.xxX

As soon as I opened up my parents' door, my father told me to sit down. Both he and my mother were grinning.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked, taking my father's orders and sitting down.

"You got a letter today," My mother said, standing up from her position with an envelope in hand.

"Wow, a letter," I deadpanned, giving a small smile. My parents both rolled their eyes.

"You can see why we're so happy if you actually look at it," My mother said, handing me the envelope. I nearly dropped it when I saw the return address.

Columbia University.

My mouth dropped and I looked up to my parents. "We don't know what it says, we were waiting for you," My father informed.

With shaking hands I opened the envelope, and carefully opened the paper folding in thirds, so as not to break it. I cleared my throat and read aloud. "Dear Miss Barton, We would be delighted to offer you a full ride scholarship and early admission for a biology degree next month at our university." I stopped reading there and dropped the envelope and happily screamed. My parents grins reached their eyes, and I threw myself into their arms.

"I'm going to Columbia! I'm going to freaking Columbia!" I screamed, as my father lifted me up and swung me around happily. Kissing my cheek, he set me down and smiled.

"Congratulations, Darling!" My mother said, hugging me tightly and taking the letter to read for herself. I let out another squeal.

"Next month! Can you believe it?" I asked, taking the letter after my mother read it and slipping it into my back pocket.

My mother and father almost looked in tears. "I definitely can't," My father laughed, but I could hear the sadness in his voice.

"Dad," I said, and hugged him around his waist. He kissed me on his forehead, and then let me go. My mother hugged me as well, and I smiled softly. "I love you guys so much."

They wrapped me in a hug again. "We love you too, and we're so proud," My mother said.

"I'm going to go to my room, okay?" They nodded, and I slipped out the door. I hurried up the stairs, smiling to myself the way up.

When I saw Landon at the end of the hall, also with a smile on his face, I yelled "Landon!" and ran up to him. I threw my arms around his neck and jumped into his arms. Landon returned the hug, and then set me down.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked, raising a brow. I snatched the envelope out of my pocket and shoved it into his hands. He quickly scanned the letter and then broke out into a grin. "This is fantastic! Congratulations, Nadya!" He kissed my forehead and then met my eyes. "But you know what's even better?"

I raised my brow and smirked. "What?"

"This." He handed me a piece of paper. I opened it to see:

_Dear Mr. Stark,_

_ We would like to offer you a full ride scholarship and early admission starting next month to our school for a degree in chemistry..._

I stopped after the first sentence to hug Landon. "Landon! This is fantastic! Where's it to?" I asked. He didn't respond, just tapped the return address on the outside of the envelope.

Columbia University.

My mouth dropped and I hugged him tightly. Landon kissed the top of my forehead and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"I guess we're going to college together, then," He said, and I could tell he was smiling. I nodded into his chest, and then looked up at him. I was right.

I pulled his head down to my level and pressed my lips to his. I couldn't believe it.

I was going to college. With a boyfriend.

A _boyfriend._

When we broke away, I smiled. "As much as I'd like to continue, dinner's in fifteen minutes and I need time to mentally prepare myself."

Landon laughed and kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later, then."

.xxX

"Tony, just pass the goddamn potatoes."

That was what I was hearing from my father, who was trying to get food from Tony. Who was in return, taking one potato on a fork at a time, and placing it on his plate. When there was a huge spoon just for the potatoes right next to it.

"I'll give them to you when I'm done, Legolas," Tony replied, while placing one more potato on his plate. Pepper just rolled her eyes and snatched the potatoes out of Tony's reach and handed them to my father, who nodded in thanks.

"Pepper! Come on!" Tony groaned, frowning at Pepper, who sighed. I laughed, and looked over to Landon. I raised an eyebrow, as to say 'when?' to announcing that we were dating. Landon nodded, for us to go soon, and I was just about to when someone interrupted me.

"I have an announcement," Thor boomed, hitting his hand on the table. Our plates and glasses shook from the impact.

"Thor, you don't have to yell to get our attention. You can just ask for it. You already have it," Bruce said, rubbing his temple and setting his fork down. Thor apologized, and then continued.

"As I was going to say, Jane and I are expecting an infant." He beamed when he finished, a huge smile on his face.

"Congratulations!" Steve spoke, grinning at Thor.

"Congrats, when is Jane due?" Bruce asked, clapping him on the back. Thor tilted his head, like a puppy. I had to bite my cheeks from laughing.

"Due? What do you mean?" Thor asked, as Bruce sighed and shook his head.

"Boy, you've got a lot to learn, Hammer Time," Tony said, as the others laughed.

"Congratulations, Thor. You'll love having a child," Pepper said, and my mother agreed.

I cleared my throat. You know what? Enough is enough. I'm going to say this now and get it over with.

"Speaking of which, I have an announcement to make," I started, standing up and getting everyone's attention.

My father's eyes widened. "Shit, Nadya! Are you pregnant?" He asked, his jaw dropping. This time my eyes widened as everyone went into an uproar.

"Who the fuck did it? Who the fuck did it?!" Tony yelled, bolting from his seat, as Bruce muttered something over and over. Steve rubbed his temples, and was cursing under his breath. My father was screaming something as my mother was trying to calm him down, even though you could tell she was pissed as well.

"No! No! I'm not pregnant! Jesus Christ! I'm not pregnant!" I yelled, as everyone stared at my sudden outburst. My father sighed and sat down in his seat, the others following suit. "Jesus, Dad, what would make you think that I'm _pregnant_?!" I asked, rolling my eyes.

He sighed. "I don't know. You said it had to relate to Jane getting pregnant, so I thought you were as well."

I shook my head. "No. It has to relate to an announcement, not being pregnant," I said, as my father sighed in relief once more.

"Okay, so what is it?" Pepper asked, folding her hands together on the table. I gulped and looked to Landon, who nodded in reassurance.

"Um, Landon and I are dating," I spit out, avoiding everyone's gaze. It was silent for a moment, and then everyone looked at Landon.

"Is this true, Landon?" Tony asked, looking at Landon, who nodded with a smile. It was silent for another moment, until Tony yelled, "Yes! Yes! Barton, pay up. A hundred bucks, right there!"

"Ah, dammit," My father cursed, taking out his wallet. I raised a brow.

"What the hell are you talking about?" My mother asked, turning to look at my father.

My father sighed and placed a one hundred dollar bill into Tony's hand. "When Nadya and Landon were born Tony and I bet that they would go out by the time that that went off to college. I said it would be after, but I guess I lost."

My mother furrowed her brows. "I'm sorry, you bet on our kid?" She asked, with an annoyed look. My father avoided my mother's eyes.

"You know, I should really be getting that money. Considering I birthed the child that you made a bet on," Pepper said, snatching the money out of Tony's hand.

"Hey! It was my bet in the first place. And I did do some of the work, thank you very much. Give me the money back!" He protested, trying to grab it out of Pepper's hand.

She rolled her eyes. "Please. Here you can have twelve dollars," She started, reaching under her chair for her purse (she keeps it under there in case she needs her blackberry) and exchanging the money for twelve dollars, which she placed in Tony's hand. "Since you did twelve percent of the work."

Tony scoffed. "Please, Pepper. We are not going to bring that up now -"

"Woah, whoa, whoa. Hey. So no one's mad? About Landon and I? Dad? Not going to shoot him or anything?" I asked, turning to my father, who shrugged.

"Why would I be mad? Landon's a good boy. He'll treat you right. Honestly, he's the only guy I really would have pictured you with." I blushed as he finished. "You _will _treat her right, right Landon?"

Landon's eyes widened. "Of course." I smiled and sat back down into my chair.

After a few minutes of conversation, Thor looked at Bruce.

"Wait, so Jane has a 'due date'?" He asked. "Is that what you were trying to tell me about when I was eating something that was two months past it's 'due date'?"

I slapped a hand to my forehead.

Although a few things had changed, a lot was the same.

.xxX

_"Miss Barton, Mr. Stark, Director Fury would like to see you in his office."_

I groaned when JARVIS finished. "What for?" I asked, and I could see Landon didn't want to either.

_"I don't know, Miss Barton. But he would like to see you immediately."_

"Ergh," I mumbled, leaning my head back on the couch. Landon and I were watching more movies (finally something good), and then of course we got interrupted.

Landon smiled and stood, pulling my arms until I was standing. "Better get going, or Fury will get pissed."

"I don't want to," I complained, folding my arms in front of my chest.

"And you think I want to?" Landon scoffed, rolling his eyes. Grabbing my hand, he continued. "Come on. Let's just go now. Might as well get it over with."

I squeezed his hand as we walked down the hallway to the elevator. Passing our rooms, there were a few cardboard boxes laying outside of them.

It had been a few weeks since we had told our parents and since we had gotten accepted, so we had to start packing. We had it all figured out. We were going to share a small apartment near the campus, and for part of the month come and live a SHIELD to help out, that is if we're needed. Otherwise, we were just coming home to see the team.

When we reached Fury's office, he was sitting behind his desk, reading a few files. He looked up at us, motioned to two of the chairs sitting across from his desk, and said "Sit."

We followed his orders and I gulped. Shit. What was happening?

"Barton, Stark, you two have a lot of guts," He started, folding his hands on his desk. "First, you sneak into my office, you read my files, you take off to _Sweden, _hell, you even have the guts to go on an operation by yourself. You two are idiots."

I rolled my eyes, and then looked at Landon, who did the same. "Sir, if you just called us here to criticize us -" Landon started, but Fury held up a hand.

"You two are idiots, but I did say you have guts. And I like that. Although you did put your lives in jeopardy, and you did violate SHIELD security, you did show a lot of smarts. And that's why we have a proposition for you two," Fury said, standing up with his hands behind his back.

I raised an eyebrow before he continued. "We are very aware of your admission to Columbia University, which we would like for you to take, since a degree in science would be good for SHIELD. But as well as taking classes we would like for you both to become a SHIELD agents part time, until you graduate, when you can become full time."

My mouth dropped when he finished. A SHIELD agent? I've been dreaming about this job since forever.

"What do you say?" Fury asked.

I looked over to Landon, who had the same look of excitement in his eyes.

"Yes," We both said simultaneously, grinning.

"Great," Fury said, taking his seat behind his desk again. "Welcome."

"To what?" Landon asked. "To SHIELD?"

Fury gave something as close to a smile as he could.

"To the New Generation."

.xxX

**There it is guys. It's done. I'm really happy right now, but at the same time it's bittersweet. I'm so happy that everyone enjoyed this story. You couldn't understand how much it means to me to have my story be that much of a success. Thank you. So much.**

** I will be making a sequel, which I will post within a few days, and I'll alert you when it's out.**

** Happy birthday to my friend mycatsaninja47, whose birthday it was yesterday.**

** Thank you guys so much. I love you all. For one last time,**

** Love it? Hate it? Leave a review!**

** Thank you.**


	17. Sequel's up!

**Hey guys! The new story is up! It's called 'New Secrets' and it's under my profile! Go check it out! Thanks!**


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